The missing page

The final page of the speech was missing. On the first page, Ben had thanked the parents. On the second, he had described the fundraising. On the third, he was supposed to explain what the new playground would mean to the children. He had printed all three at home. Now, with the mayor waiting beside the microphone and the school gates crowded with families, he could find only two. He searched the folder again, passing his thumb along the plastic sleeves. The mayor smiled at him in a way that made the delay feel longer.

Two weeks earlier, the headteacher had asked whether he would speak because he had helped organise the campaign. Ben had said yes before imagining the audience. Since then he had rewritten the final paragraph nine times. He wanted it to sound grateful but not stiff, hopeful but not foolish. His daughter had listened once, then asked why he did not simply say that the old slide had hurt her legs. He had explained that public speeches needed a different sort of language. She had returned to her drawing without replying.

The microphone gave a small shriek when he touched it. He thanked the parents, the council and the people who had baked cakes. He described the sponsored walk. For a minute the printed sentences carried him forward without difficulty. Then he reached the bottom of the second sheet. Beyond the folder he could see his daughter crouching beside a smaller child, pointing towards the new climbing frame. A balloon slipped from somebody's wrist and rose above the crowd. Ben watched it until he realised that he was no longer speaking.

‘The old slide hurt,’ he said. A few people laughed, uncertain whether this was a joke. Ben lowered the folder. He explained that its surface had become rough, that younger children needed help reaching the top, that some stopped trying. The new one had a gentler slope and steps they could manage. He could see parents nodding now. His daughter stood up. He added that he hoped the playground would give children a place to begin things before they knew they could finish them. Then he stepped away from the microphone.

After the ribbon was cut, the children ran past him. His daughter waited until the smaller child had climbed the steps before going herself. Ben folded the two pages and put them in his coat. At home that afternoon, he found the final sheet underneath the printer. He read it while the kettle boiled. It contained a sentence about investment in the future, another about shared aspirations. He turned it over and used the blank side to write the shopping list. At the bottom he added plasters, then crossed them out.

Consider the whole passage. How does the writer structure the text to show the change in Ben’s approach to his speech? You could consider the opening, movement between different times, shifts in focus, and the ending. Support your analysis with references to the passage.