The silent spelling round

Text: an original contemporary personal-account-style practice extract.

In the written round of the spelling contest, nobody could hear a mistake being made. We sat with small boards on our knees while the reader gave us the word. In the spoken rounds, I had watched people’s faces change before they reached the final letter. Here, every face could keep its secret until the boards were raised.

I wrote quickly, then stared at the middle of my answer. One letter seemed suddenly unfamiliar. Around me, pens stopped and began again. The reader waited without filling the silence. I understood why that mattered: another word from the front of the room would have become part of the argument already taking place between the letters on my board.

When we raised our answers, mine was wrong. The incorrect letter had survived all my looking. Afterwards, I remembered the pause more clearly than the result. It had given each contestant a private uncertainty before turning it into a public answer. Silence had not made the test easier. It had changed how we had to occupy its difficulty.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to interest and engage the reader.

In your answer, consider:

• language features and techniques
• structural techniques
• the effect on the reader.

Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.