A Bunty For Girls Annual In The 1960's

‘Nora’s First Job’s genre is a fictional short story in a Bunty for Girls Annual in the 1960s. Its purpose is to entertain and engage with a young female reader – presumably teenagers aged 15-18. It includes a young woman – Nora – who is attempting to get her first job, which can be relatable to a lot of teens.
The background context of this text is relevant as it was published in the 1960s – where a big change happened in youth culture. Teenagers lives changed as fashion became hugely important, and teenagers had more disposable income – from having Saturday jobs – and the market had started to make many more things targeted at teenagers knowing they had more disposable income than their predecessors. This is relevant to the short story as one of the main themes is fashion – the writer uses subject-specific lexis regarding fashion, such as: “high heeled shoes”, “tan-coloured suit”, “gay little hat”, “smart handbag”, “dress”, “dapper”, and “gowns”. This provides evidence that fashion is an

Firstly, the writer includes an ‘ordinary’ and relatable character – Nora. Nora has characteristics that can be compared with many teenagers, now and in the 1960s, such as teen ‘awkwardness’ and teen anxiety. Evidence for this is when Nora is talking about Lisette, saying: “What shall I do? She’s so much smarter and better dressed than I am”. The overstating of comparison between her and Lisette is evidence of teen anxiety, something the audience can definitely relate to. Plenty of teenagers who read this text will be able to place Nora’s situation on themselves – i.e. everybody compares themselves to somebody ‘better’ than them, and dims their self-esteem down in the process. This makes the short story more appealing to young females so the audience can relate to the protagonist immediately and feel drawn into the short story, further reading to the