In the puppet repair room

Text: an original contemporary reportage-style practice extract.

The puppet repair room has too many faces. They peer from shelves, lean out of boxes and hang upside down from hooks, smiling with the patience of people who know I will leave before they do. I laugh when I enter, although nobody has made a joke. At the central table, the repairer places a fox puppet on a square of white cloth. Its painted grin appears entirely confident. Its left arm lies beside it.

I expect glue, or perhaps a needle large enough to belong in a storybook. Instead, the repairer chooses a tool no longer than her smallest finger and draws a loose thread from the fox’s shoulder. Her hands make movements so slight that my eyes keep arriving too late. Pull. Pause. Turn. The scattered pieces on the cloth begin to resemble a plan rather than an accident. When she reconnects the arm, nothing celebrates. The paw lifts by the width of a coin and settles again.

Only then does she carry the fox to a wooden frame and fasten its strings. At first, it lurches forward like an actor who has forgotten the stage is there. One adjustment steadies it. The fox bows, raises its repaired arm and seems to acknowledge the rows of waiting faces. I had entered a room full of broken objects. As I leave, it looks more like a cast waiting quietly for its next performance.

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.