Coit-Essay
Nadine Gordimer
Once upon a Time
1. The opening section of the story is told by a writer awakened by a frightening sound 1in the night. What two causes for
the sound does she consider? Ultimately, which is the more significant cause for fear? How do these together
create an emotional background for the “children’s story“ she tells?
2. What stylistic devices create the atmosphere of children’s stories? How is this atmosphere related to the story‘s theme?
3. To what extent does the story explore the motives for the behavior of the wife and husband, the husband’s mother, the
servants, and the people who surround the suburb and the house? What motives can you infer for these people? What
ironies do they display in their actions?
4. Can you fix the blame for the calamity that befalls the child? What are the possible meanings of the repeated phrase
“YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED”?
5. What details in the introductory section and in the children‘s story imply the nature of the social order in which both
occur?
6. Analyze the story’s final paragraph in detail. How does it help to elucidate the theme?
