The almost empty sheet

Text: an original contemporary personal-account-style practice extract.

At the school exhibition, the main corridor competed for attention. Paintings blazed beneath the ceiling lights. Photographs filled entire display boards, and captions shouted from cards in thick black letters. Visitors moved quickly from one display to the next, pointing out faces they recognised and calling friends back to see their favourite pieces.

Then one sheet interrupted the colour. From several steps away, it appeared almost empty: white paper, four drawing pins and a faint grey shape in the centre. Most people walked past. When I moved closer, however, the grey shape separated into hundreds of names written in tiny pencil. Together, they formed the outline of the school. There were cleaners, cooks, office staff, technicians and volunteers. The letters were so small that I had to lean towards the paper and follow the walls of the building one name at a time.

Gradually, other visitors stopped. The fast-moving crowd became a quiet group of bent heads. Nobody needed to call anyone back; people simply made room for the next person to look. Around us, the brighter displays continued to announce themselves. This sheet did something different. The others asked to be seen. It asked us to notice.

Analyse how language and structure are used to make the account engaging.

In your response, you should refer to:

• words and phrases
• the organisation of ideas
• their effects on the reader.

Use detailed references to the extract.