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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. Who gave the man and woman money to build a higher wall around their house?

2. How do the intruders get past the iron bars in the suburban homes?

3. What did the housemaid say to the woman who hung about the suburbs looking for work?

4. How are the coils the man and woman have installed around their wall described when the workmen are putting them in?

5. Who is the first to find the boy at the end of the story?

Short Essay Questions

1. Despite thinking it the ugliest, what option did the man and woman choose to enhance security after building a higher wall?

2. How did the son end up getting entangled in the new security fence at the end of the story?

3. After building a higher wall, what did the man and woman notice the cat doing one night while discussing the latest robberies?

4. Why were homeowners particularly crushed when intruders drank their single malt scotch?

5. Describe the various security options the man and woman noticed during their neighborhood walk.

6. After the man and woman decided they should build a higher wall, what did the man's mother get them for Christmas? What did she get for their son?

7. Describe what would likely happen should someone attempt to climb the wall with the serrated metal coils installed?

8. What did the wife do for the people who hung around looking for work outside their home? What did the housemaid think of them?

9. Who helps remove the little boy at the end of the story? How do they do it?

10. What were intruders able to do even while the alarms wailed in the suburbs, and what did they take?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Gordimer's decision to utilize the frame story of the narrator's bedtime tale in "Once Upon a Time." How does this impact the reader's understanding of the story's events? Is this effective? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay examining security devices as a symbol in “Once Upon a Time.” In what scenes do these devices appear? What is the context? How do these devices develop the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Pick a character from the story and discuss their goals and motives. Do they achieve their motive? Do they share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do their goals clash with other characters? How do the characters' goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

(see the answer keys)

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