The sharpener on the desk
Text: an original contemporary design-review-style practice extract.
The pencil sharpener stood at the end of the art-room desk: a heavy grey block with a handle on one side. Beside the coloured pencils and bright paint boxes, it looked like equipment left behind by another generation. I expected noise, effort and a disappointing result.
Then I turned the handle. The small machine woke with a steady crunch. A neat ribbon of wood curled into its clear container, while the blunt end of my pencil narrowed to a point as fine as a needle. I had brought it an ordinary pencil; seconds later, it returned a drawing tool that felt precise and new.
It is not a sharpener for every situation. It is too large for a pencil case, and nobody would carry it from lesson to lesson. Yet on a shared desk, where many people can use it, its weight becomes useful rather than awkward. By the end of the lesson, the grey block no longer seemed out of place. It had earned its corner.
Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to show their changing response to the pencil sharpener and to engage the reader.
In your answer, consider:
Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.
834 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 2.3 Content: non-fiction study and transactional text types, covering 2.3.9 Write an article, 2.3.10 Write a letter, 2.3.11 Write a review, 2.3.12 Write a text for a speech, and 2.3.13 Write a section for a guide, textbook, leaflet or booklet. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.