1. Theme is: ________________________.
Objective: Understand how Gordimer develops the theme of “reactions to fear” in Once Upon a Time.
Theme is: ________________________.
In Once Upon a Time, the setting is loosely based on
Gordimer’s time growing up in South Africa during
apartheid.
Directions:
As you watch the video, write 1 new fact you
learned.
2. Read the background about author on page 11.
3. Read Once Upon a Time.
4. Complete both sides of your handout.
5. Turn it in, and complete last week’s Achieve: Tracking Immigrants Through Social Media or this week’s Achieve: Post WWII: 20 Years of Freedom.
To figure out how a theme, you have to infer.
Unlike a central idea, theme can’t be directly found in the passage.
But I don’t want to write all that! What should I do?
the author’s underlying message
1. Gordimer is scared of strange noises in her house. 11
“A creaking of the kind made by the weight carried by one foot after another along a wooden floor.”
“. . . I have the same fears as people who do take these precautions. . . “
“A creaking. . . I have the same fears as people who do take these precautions.”