Before the fish auction

Text: an original contemporary report-style practice extract.

The auction begins before most café shutters have lifted. Boxes slide across the floor, lids snap open and the names of boats travel faster than their crews. From the doorway, the place sounds like an argument conducted entirely in numbers. Move closer, and the argument acquires rules.

A buyer raises two fingers without raising his voice. Another shakes her head and studies the ice around a box of fish. The auctioneer moves on. Nobody explains the gestures to a visitor, but everybody who needs them seems to understand. Beneath that speed lies slower work: the cleaning of boxes, the checking of weights, the journeys that ended at the quay hours earlier. A porter wipes a patch of floor between sales. For a moment, the whole furious business makes room for a mop.

At the last box, the room changes volume. Buyers look at their phones; a driver counts the stacks assigned to his van. The auctioneer drinks from a mug that has been beside him all morning. The numbers have stopped, but the work has not. Outside, the first café opens. Its breakfast menu offers fish as though fish were simply something that arrived on a plate.

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.