The room behind the timetable
Text: an original contemporary opinion-column-style practice extract.
The community music room had a timetable on its door and a lock beneath it. On Tuesday evening, I watched three people read the list, try the handle and leave. I called it a room reserved for people who already knew how to get inside.
The caretaker showed me the cupboard of instruments. A leaking window had warped two music stands; a borrowed keyboard had gone missing the previous winter. The groups listed on the timetable took turns storing their equipment there. “If the room is open all day, we can’t promise it will be ready for anyone,” he said. I had not asked who would put things right after an open door had been useful to one person and costly to the next.
The timetable has not changed, and the lock is still there. But one evening a week, a volunteer now stays to welcome people who want to try the room. It is not the instant access I wanted. It is a beginning that depends on somebody being present. Perhaps a room can be open without being unattended; perhaps access is not a handle turning, but a person making space.
Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to interest and engage the reader, including how the writer’s view develops.
In your answer, consider:
Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.