The hotel breakfast room

Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.

The breakfast room had been designed to persuade us that morning was a ceremony. White cloths fell in disciplined folds, and each spoon rested at precisely the same angle. Even the oranges looked rehearsed. A waiter approached with the grave expression of somebody entrusted with important news and asked whether I preferred coffee or tea. Behind him, a machine hissed like a furious animal concealed in a cupboard.

I chose a table beside the window. The sea was making no attempt to match the hotel's standards: it was grey, untidy and throwing foam against the wall. Indoors, a pyramid of miniature jam jars stood guard over the bread. I reached for a croissant and disturbed three pairs of polished tongs. Their clatter sounded outrageously loud. For a moment I felt that I had interrupted a performance for which everybody else had learned the rules.

Then a small child dropped a spoon and laughed. Her father laughed too, and the waiter retrieved it without any sign that civilisation had ended. The room relaxed around that ordinary noise. I poured another cup of coffee and stopped arranging the crumbs on my plate into a discreet corner. The food was good. It became easier to enjoy once I no longer felt obliged to deserve the tablecloth.

Refer to the whole of Source A. Analyse how the writer uses language to present the formality of the breakfast room and the writer’s response. Explain the effects of specific words, phrases and language choices, using evidence from the passage.