The fourth box

Text: an original contemporary opinion-column-style practice extract.

The event survey asked what I had enjoyed most: music, games or food. I had enjoyed meeting a friend I had not seen for years. There was no box for that. I hovered over food because we had talked beside a plate of sandwiches, then stopped. The sandwiches had been witnesses, not the reason.

A fourth box said other. I typed a sentence and discovered that the field allowed only twelve characters. My answer became friendship, which fitted, though it sounded more grandly abstract than the ordinary pleasure of our conversation. I submitted it. Somewhere in the results, that word would stand beside a count of music, games and food.

A survey must simplify if its answers are to be compared. But simplification should remain visible to the people reading the comparison. The fourth box had given me a place without quite giving me room. When the organiser asked for feedback afterwards, I told her about the conversation rather than the category. This time the answer could take as long as it needed.

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.