One Upon a Time Questions

Global Literature Name:___________________

Once Upon a Time- by Nadine Gordimer

Symbol: a concrete object that is used to represent an idea (a person, a place, a thing, or an event). Examples are: the dove = peace, the hourglass = time passing, etc

The following objects appear in the story. Write down as many symbolic meanings for each object that you can think of in relation to Apartheid and/or South Africa:

1. The growing wall and razor bladed coils:



2. The boy:



3. The roses and the perfect lawn



4. The red smudge marks on the whitewash wall



5. The narrator’s house being built above a South African mine



Irony: is using a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or normal meaning. There are three kinds of irony:
• Dramatic irony, in which the reader or the audience sees a character’s mistakes, but the character does not.
• Verbal irony, in which the writer says one thing and means another: “The best substitute for experience is being thirteen:; and
• Irony of situation, in which there is a great difference between the purpose of a particular action and the result.

6. Explain the irony you see in the story “Once Upon a Time”