Big 5 Eton text 1 

 
1. The characteristics/advantages of your text type 
 
Characters 
- Rachel → tutor? 
- Sir Gilbert → Dad 
 
Plot  
The plot of the story is about two people who are talking about Sir Gilbert’s son. Sir Gilbert asks 
Rachel for help in making his son more normal. Through this the author makes a commentary 
about Eton College, as through SG raising concerns about how people who go to Eton end up 
being seen as “elite”. SG is trying to get Rachel to make him more “normal” as to meet the new 
entry requirement for Oxford.  
 
Characteristics of the text:  
The text is an extract from a novel, and is structured like that. The text is broken down into six 
main paragraphs, however the characteristics of a novel come through when structuring the text, 
as each time someone speaks there is a new line of text. Additionally the description and 
commentary which is prevalent in the text help to highlight the text type.   
 
Advantages: 
The advantage of having this social commentary as literature instead of in the form of an article or 
analyses is that it puts it in a setting which can be more relatable to the audience, this helps them 
have a better understanding of what the author is discussing. Through having a man of a higher 
class speak to a tutor/ more “normal” person who is from the middle class, it also helps to 
emphasize the difference between the classes. It’s purpose is to entertain so it makes it more 
engaging for the audience, the messages that the author tries to get across resonate more. Using 
humour through irony thus, helping to highlight the message.  
 
Audience → Because it is a novel, the audience are people who have the time and means to read. 
The subject matter and language imply that the audience are adults, but it is really very broad. 
 
Purpose → Being a story novel, the purpose of this book will be to entertain. 
 
Content → This story is about a father enlisting the help of a woman named Rachel to try and 
make his son a normal person so that he can get into college. This involves eliminating his sense of 
entitlement. 
 
Theme → The entitlement and arrogance will get you nowhere. 
 
Tone → The tone is humorous but also slightly one of matters of fact embarrassment on the part 
of Sir Gilbert, who is fully aware of his sons short comings. 
 
Mood → The mood is ironic, which is shown through the fact that someone who has all of the 
opportunities in life is trying to make it seem like they do not in order to have a higher chance of 
getting into a university.  
 
Stylistic devices →Dialogue, descriptive language to highlight social inequality.  
 
Structure → Structured like a novel. 

How the text type presents info about the subject in question with respect to other text types 
● Story with rachel (colloquial) name vs sir gilbert (upper class-ish)= typical of etonians vs 
other classes tension 
● Story means can be more descriptive and go into character more = better feel of types of 
people and social classes 
● Fictional = can stereotype classes without directly singling out people —> can still make 
their point in more valid way 
● Not from newspaper / non fiction / interview / poem = more biased? Can give views 
without angering etonians 
● Rachel pov