An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
Martin had nearly finished closing the canal lock when the first knock sounded beneath the gate. He stopped with one hand on the chain. The water lay flat; no boat waited in the dusk. A second knock came, slower than the first, and he leaned over the stone edge to listen. Nothing.
He fetched the lantern from the lock-house. Its small circle of light travelled over the water and climbed the gate, where the iron chain hung slack. Martin turned away. Behind him, the knocking began again: three quick taps, then silence. He set the lantern down and reached for the gate.
The wind caught the chain. It swung against the stone, once, twice, then again. Martin caught it in his fist. The lock fell quiet. For a moment he kept hold of the cold links; then he let them go, and the chain tapped once more.
Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to develop the reader’s changing impression of the sounds at the lock. Support your answer with references to the passage.
456 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.