In at least 150 words, discuss how nadine gordimer uses aspects of the traditional fairy tale to illustrate the realities of apartheid-era south africa in “once upon a time.” use evidence from the text to support your answer.

In the story, a family of white people is worried about security. Riots occur in the city, in "coloured neighbourhoods", even black maids have been attacked by thieves . So, the mother and son notice that some neighbours have placed a series of jagged metal wires on top of the gate and they decide to do the same.

One night, the mother tells her son a bedtime story about a prince who climbs through a bush of thorns to bring Sleeping Beauty back to life. The next day, the boy recognizes the jagged swire on the wall as representative of his own bush, and he attempts to climb them in an attempt to duplicate what the prince did. The boy becomes tangled in the metal coil, cut and stabbed and torn . As he struggles and screams in agonizing pain, he becomes further trapped in the metal wire and he finally dies.

the present continuous is a verb tense which is mainly used to indicates that an action is in progress at the moment of speaking.  

it is formed using: person + verb to be (am/is/are) +verb + - ing form  

example: i am studying at this moment .

in addition, the present continuous is also used in order to express things that will or will not happen in the near future.

example: i am having dinner with some friends tonight.

the speaker sometimes   uses it   to express that an action is repeated and it causes irritation on the part of the speaker

example: my sister is constantly complaining about everything.

i believe the answer is inference