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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of people are said to live in the city in the tale the narrator tells herself?

2. Where did the man and woman get the plaque that said "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED" (25) when they first began their life together?

3. What were the Chopi and Tsonga people the narrator says may have made the wooden instrument she describes when discussing her heart beating?

4. What begins to happen once the riots in the city are suppressed?

5. What does the husband do to assuage his wife's fears that people from the city might intrude on their home in the suburbs?

Short Essay Questions

1. After the riots outside the city subsided, what crimes took place in the suburbs?

2. How is the man's mother described and what warning did she give her son and his wife as they start their life together?

3. At the start of "Once Upon a Time," what does the narrator say someone wrote and asked her to do, and how does she feel about this request?

4. What precautions do the man and woman take against theft or natural disasters when they first move in to their home together?

5. What were the man and woman unable to insure their house against, and why did the man tell his wife they need not worry about that?

6. Why is the narrator unable to sleep at the start of the story?

7. Where does the story the narrator tells herself take palce and who is in the story?

8. What does the narrator realize is the cause of the creaking she hears in her home at the start of the story?

9. What does the man have installed in their house to ease his wife's fears and what does the boy do with them?

10. Despite having the same fears of intruders as other people, what precautions does the narrator say she does not take in her home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay examining the ending of “Once Upon a Time.” How did the ending fit into the storyline? Do you think the ending was effective? What theme might the ending represent? What might the author have done differently?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Gordimer’s focus on themes of fear and protection in "Once Upon a Time."

Essay Topic 3

Write a brief essay analyzing the title “Once Upon a Time.” Explore the ways in which this title connects to the plot and themes of the story.

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