once upon a time
Debbie Rendon
Kathy Hilbert
English 1302 W03
28 June 2015
Nadine Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time” Analysis
Fairy tales have specific elements that the reader can catch on to when reading a story. When reading a fairy tale, we think of princesses, princes, happily ever after 's and once upon a time. In "Once Upon a Time" the story has many of the elements of a fairy tale such as good vs. evil and a problem that needs to be solved.
One element is the special beginning and endings. A fairy tale begins with "Once upon a time...". We see the special beginning in the title "Once Upon a Time". Fairy tales have happy endings – "they all lived happily ever after (ReadWriteThink)" (ReadWriteThink). This story starts with them living their happily ever after "…there was a man and his wife who loved each other very much and were living happily ever after" (Gordimer).
Many fairy tales are fantasy and are make believe. This story does exactly that. The story starts out with the narrator being scared ad not able to sleep. So she tells a story with made up characters that live in a fantasy world. The story tells of the family living in the world with no harm and absolute safety. For example "...a swimming pool which was fenced so that the little boy and his playmates would not fall in and drown" (Gordimer). As great as this seems the world without harm doesn 't exist no matter how what is done to try and prevent this from happening.
A Fairy tale defines the difference between good vs. evil. In this story the family is the good and world beyond their fence is the evil. The family fears for their safety and the safety of their material possessions such as their home or "castle". Fairy tales have a problem that needs to be solved and it often takes three tries to solve the problems. The family 's problem is trying to protect their family and home from outsiders. They do so by adding an alarm with warning signs that say "You Have Been Warned" (Gordimer), high walls, and razor coils
Kathy Hilbert
English 1302 W03
28 June 2015
Nadine Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time” Analysis
Fairy tales have specific elements that the reader can catch on to when reading a story. When reading a fairy tale, we think of princesses, princes, happily ever after 's and once upon a time. In "Once Upon a Time" the story has many of the elements of a fairy tale such as good vs. evil and a problem that needs to be solved.
One element is the special beginning and endings. A fairy tale begins with "Once upon a time...". We see the special beginning in the title "Once Upon a Time". Fairy tales have happy endings – "they all lived happily ever after (ReadWriteThink)" (ReadWriteThink). This story starts with them living their happily ever after "…there was a man and his wife who loved each other very much and were living happily ever after" (Gordimer).
Many fairy tales are fantasy and are make believe. This story does exactly that. The story starts out with the narrator being scared ad not able to sleep. So she tells a story with made up characters that live in a fantasy world. The story tells of the family living in the world with no harm and absolute safety. For example "...a swimming pool which was fenced so that the little boy and his playmates would not fall in and drown" (Gordimer). As great as this seems the world without harm doesn 't exist no matter how what is done to try and prevent this from happening.
A Fairy tale defines the difference between good vs. evil. In this story the family is the good and world beyond their fence is the evil. The family fears for their safety and the safety of their material possessions such as their home or "castle". Fairy tales have a problem that needs to be solved and it often takes three tries to solve the problems. The family 's problem is trying to protect their family and home from outsiders. They do so by adding an alarm with warning signs that say "You Have Been Warned" (Gordimer), high walls, and razor coils
Bibliography: Gordimer, Nadine. "Once Upon a TIme." 1989. Nexus Learing. 11 06 2015. <http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/elements_of_lit_course6/20th%20Century/Collection%2015/OnceUponaTime.htm>. ReadWriteThink. Common Elements of Fairy Tales. 2003. 11 06 2015. <http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson1/RWTa51-4.pdf>.