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Once Upon a Time | eNotes Essentials

Summary
Nadine Gordimer's "Once Upon a Time" opens with a frame story involving the author herself. It takes place at a point in her career when she has been asked to compose a short story for a children’s book as part of her "duty" as a writer. She rejects that idea, however, on the grounds of artistic freedom: no artist, she thinks, should ever be compelled to create a work on demand.

After she presents this note of defiance, Gordimer lies asleep in her bed when a strange sound awakens her. Thinking that an intruder has entered her home, she remains...


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