The city after dark

Text: an original contemporary field-report-style practice extract.

At midnight, the brightest place in the park was not the moonlit lake but the white sheet beneath our lamp. Moths gathered on it in restless punctuation: commas of brown wing, a pale dash that refused to settle. I had come to count insects. For the first ten minutes, I mostly counted the ways they escaped my attention.

The survey leader asked us to dim our torches when we moved away from the sheet. Beyond its circle, the path was almost invisible. Across the railings, however, an empty office block blazed on every floor. Its windows turned the trees into black cut-outs. We recorded what appeared under our lamp, then noted the other lights around the site. The form had room for both. A list of insects without their surroundings would have been a strangely incomplete account of the night.

At two, we switched off. The sheet ceased to be a stage; its creases became merely cloth. Nothing dramatic happened to the office block. That was the point. Our small light had a purpose and an ending, while the larger brightness continued above rooms nobody was using. Walking home, I began noticing dark windows with an attention I had previously reserved for illuminated ones.

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.