The chair by the door

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

I arrived early to help arrange the village hall for the evening meal. One chair stood by the entrance, angled towards the door instead of the tables. I carried it across the room and fitted it between two others. When I went back for a stack of plates, it was there again, its front legs just inside the strip of light from the corridor.

“We need room for the trays,” I said. Mrs Hale nodded, then began folding napkins. I moved the chair a second time. Its scrape travelled across the empty hall, louder than I expected. The other chairs made their neat rows; that one kept leaving a small gap beside the door. I wondered whether Mrs Hale had forgotten what I had just done.

People arrived in twos and threes. Mrs Hale greeted them, pointed them towards the tables and kept glancing at the entrance. At last, someone came in alone, shaking rain from a coat. Mrs Hale stopped folding. The chair was still angled towards the doorway. She placed a plate on its seat, then lifted it away as the newcomer reached for the back. I gathered the napkins from the table. There was one fewer than I had counted.

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.