The lunchtime bells

Text: an original contemporary travel-review-style practice extract.

At noon, the bells interrupted a street that had already been conducting several conversations at once. People looked upwards without quite agreeing about what they were hearing. The tune travelled unevenly between the buildings. Near the tower it was clear; beside the covered market, one phrase arrived with another still returning from a wall.

I moved across the square and heard the same tune differently. A stallholder continued wrapping a purchase, keeping time with the paper rather than stopping to listen. Two children counted the notes and lost their place when a bus passed. The performance had no single attentive audience. It entered journeys, transactions and arguments already underway.

The last note left the square gradually. Voices did not resume, because most had never stopped. I had expected a tune that would make the town pause together. Instead, it offered a shared sound without requiring a shared response. The bells belonged to the street partly because the street was allowed to carry on around them.

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.