chinese cinderella igcse essay

Chinese Cinderella

Adeline Yen Mah is outlining her experiences of growing up in Hong Kong. She describes a moment when her father became proud of her and she made a life-changing decision to move to the UK.

1950s Hong Kong life was relatively new and difficult. In 1945, the British resumed their rulership of Hong Kong. There were a large number of refugees from the mainland and the population grew significantly.

author’spurpose

Adeline Yen Mah grew up in Hong Kong. She was brought up in a wealthy family and she describes the house within this extract. It is interesting how she is reflecting on a childhood event but she is doing this as an adult. It could be that a memory is different from the reality.

Emotive Language

Emotive Language is any language and vocabulary that creates an emotion. It is an umbrella term that encompasses many different devices:

‘My heart gave a giant lurch as it dawned on me that he was agreeing to let me go. How marvellous it was simply to be alive! Study? I thought. Going to England is like entering heaven. Does it matter what you do after you get to heaven?’

Within this quote, there is usage of descriptive adjectives. However, most significantly is the use of different sentence types to create the emotion.

There are exclamatory sentences. These are sentences that end in an exclamation mark. These reflect the excitement of the child at the time.

There are rhetorical questions. These are questions that do not require an answer. She asks herself several questions. These reflect her excitement.

There is much dialogue within the extract:

‘‘Adeline!’ Ma-mien Valentino was calling.

‘You can’t go now,’ Mary protested. ‘For once I’m winning. One, two, three, four. Good! You’ve landed on my property. Thirty-five dollars, please. Oh, good afternoon, Mother Valentino!’ ‘

It almost appears as though this is a story. This conversation and time was obviously extremely important to the writer, as she remembers each word that was mentioned.

It is interesting how we do not meet the family until part way through the extract. The focus suddenly becomes on her father. The conversation is clearly remembered. It impacted upon her greatly. She wants to see him but it is unusual for her to enter into his room. She then goes through a range of emotions when meeting her father. It is him who controls her actions, as represented by the ending:

‘Agree? Of course I agreed. Apparently, he had it all planned out. As long as he let me go to university in England, I would study anything he wished. How did that line go in Wordsworth’s poem? Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive.’

‘Father, I shall go to medical school in England and become a doctor. Thank you very, very much.’

It appears as though this conversation affected the rest of her life.

examquestions

Within your examination, you will be asked a series of questions about the article.

Some of the questions will be short questions. For these questions, you must look at the number of marks in brackets. It is important to answer in full sentences.

Other questions will be long questions. For these questions, you must look at using analysis. You will also be asked to compare. Think carefully about the key comparisons and plan your answer first.

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Chinese Cinderella

Adeline yen mah.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Adeline Yen Mah's Chinese Cinderella . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Chinese Cinderella: Introduction

Chinese cinderella: plot summary, chinese cinderella: detailed summary & analysis, chinese cinderella: themes, chinese cinderella: quotes, chinese cinderella: characters, chinese cinderella: symbols, chinese cinderella: theme wheel, brief biography of adeline yen mah.

Historical Context of Chinese Cinderella

Other books related to chinese cinderella.

• Full Title: Chinese Cinderella: The true story of an unwanted daughter
• When Written: 1996
• Where Written: Anaheim, California
• When Published: September 7, 1999
• Literary Period: contemporary
• Genre: memoir
• Setting: Tianjin, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
• Climax: Adeline is called home to speak with Father, where he reveals that she has won an international playwriting competition.
• Antagonist: Niang
• Point of View: first-person

Extra Credit for Chinese Cinderella

The Abridged Version. Chinese Cinderella is an abridged version of the author’s 1997 memoir, Falling Leaves , covering only her childhood and aimed at young adults.

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IGCSE Edexcel Chinese Cinderella, Relationship Father and Daughter

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Chinese Cinderella IGCSE essay by Adeline Yen Mah Model Essays Question 05

Chinese Cinderella IGCSE essay

By adeline yen mah.

Chinese Cinderella igcse essay

Q5. What do we learn about Adeline in this passage from Chinese Cinderella? In your answer, consider:

• her attitudes to education
• her relationship with her family;
• the writer’s use of language techniques.

You should refer closely to the passage to support your answer. You may use brief quotations.

Edexcel English IGCSE Model Essay by an Expert

In this passage, we learn about Adeline’s home life, particularly her relationship with her family. She is also ambitious, and sees education as a means of escape.

The reader quickly learns that Adeline does not come from a happy home. The opening paragraph contains the dramatic escalation from the “end of term” to “the end of school forever”, which shows Adeline’s dread about having to leave. When she is told that she has to return home that day, she runs “as in a nightmare”; this simile shows the extent of her discomfort and terror, which almost disconnects her from reality. She reveals her dismay at having to return home with the repeated structure “full of”, showing that her “foreboding” and “dread” are overwhelming. Furthermore, she believes that she is being brought home either because someone has died, or because she has done something wrong; this shows that her family only contact her in negative circumstances.

We learn more about Adeline’s family life from the reactions of her family when she arrives home. Her family do not bother to greet her, even though they are not busy: they are “playing bridge” and “sunbathing”, showing that Adeline is a very low priority in their lives. Adeline also displays fear and distrust of her father. She describes his room with the metaphor, “the Holy of Holies”, giving her father an almost religious status, and showing that she is intimidated by him. Although he seems friendly, Adeline’s reactions reveal that this is not how he normally acts. She even suspects that his friendliness is a “giant ruse”, revealing that perhaps he has played such a cruel trick in the past.

In this passage, we also learn about Adeline’s attitudes towards education. She is clearly happy at school, but part of this is that it keeps her away from her unwelcoming family. She has a similar attitude towards her ambitions for university. Her “heart gave a giant lurch” when she realises her father may give her permission to study in England, suggesting a physical reaction of joy. She compares going to England with “entering heaven”: a hyperbolic simile which shows that she believes England to be a perfect place where she will be happy forever. The reader learns, however, that it is being in England which is her priority, rather than having a passion for a particular subject. She admits she “would study anything [her father] wished” if she could just go to England. This suggests that she values education as a potential route of escape from her life in China.

Adeline is clearly an ambitious and brave teenager, who dares to make a request of her dominating father in order to gain independence in the future.

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Chinese Cinderella

By adeline yen mah, chinese cinderella essay questions.

What makes the events that occurred during her childhood so poignant to Ms. Yen Mah at the point of her life when she relates the story?

A complete answer to this question would look at a it from a variety of perspectives. While one can talk about the deep psychological trauma that events cause during a decisively absorbent age, it is also important to mention the imperfectness of memory. The thoughts of a child can be distorted with time, augmenting some wrongs and forgetting some rights. The most important aspect of an effective response is the ability to understand different perspectives.

How might Adeline’s relatives describe themselves if given the chance to tell their own life stories?

An effective answer to this question would look to address the incredibly static nature of the characters within Adeline's story. None of the characters within the novel, besides perhaps Adeline herself, have any changes in personality, either positive or negative. They are, at the end of the novel, the same people as they were at the beginning. The writer would first look to answer the question of why the characters are so static. Then, they would look to find the deeper conflicts that may have affected the development of these periphery characters.

Why does Niang behave towards Adeline, and her other stepchildren, as she does?

A difficult but central question, the nature of Niang's conflict with Joseph's natural born children can be difficult to ascertain. The matter of Niang's youth is a particularly interesting aspect for the writer to pursue, although it will not serve as a satisfactory answer on its own. The successful essay will also look at the dynamic between Niang and her husband, perhaps trying to answer why he deferred to her so easily. Father's pride of his French wife may perhaps be the root of this development. Finally, the matter of inheritance may be considered as in play.

At one point, Adeline feels close to her third brother. However, the bond is constantly broken and rebuilt throughout the story. Why is this relationship difficult and changeable?

As the least confrontational of the siblings, Third Brother is naturally the one who Adeline can build the greatest connection with. However, the flippant nature of his alliances can also brig about a rapid end to any comradeship. While Third Brother may perhaps like his younger sister, he does not have a strong enough personality to stand up to his other siblings. An above average essay will try to explain the origins of this dynamic and try to explain how the distinct prerequisites under which those moments of friendship arise.

Why doesn't Aunt Baba do more to ‘rescue’ Adeline?

A prickly issue to address, the answer to this question would probably characterize Aunt Baba as a very passive sort of hero, a benevolent human rather than a game changing force. Although this would go against the role of protagonist she takes in the novel, it is by far the most realistic. A successful essay will look at Aunt Baba as someone forced into the hero role since she was the only one who would help Adeline, but unable to complete the prerequisites of the elevated position. Aunt Baba does what her personality has dictated she could do: she writes encouraging letters and prays for her niece, not charging into a boarding school and flying her out to America.

How does the financial state of Adeline's family influence the dynamics of the story?

An observant reader would try to visualize a life in which Adeline's family was unable to obtain the resources it had, closer to the beggars mentioned throughout the book. A particularly interesting position would say that even though Adeline had an incredibly difficult childhood, she had access to opportunities that millions of Chinese children did not. If things had been different and the Yen family could not afford mansions and American cars, Adeline may not have even been born. This is an interesting essay topic because it challenges the writer to think that maybe the term of "Chinese Cinderella" may fit others better than Adeline Yen Mah.

How does Chinese culture play a role in Adeline's life?

The important distinction to take note of here is the difference between the dynamic of Adeline's family and a more traditional Chinese family. Although there is the customary nod to major public holidays, the Yen family is distinctly anglicized. The writer can perhaps engage with the question of whether this is a shift throughout Chinese society or if it is an issue particular to the Yens. While the role of Chinese culture is not direct, the successful essay would note that it's influence is pervasive all the way until it is stated outright in Ye Ye's last monologue.

Nai Nai has had her feet bound as a child. This ‘custom’ is part of an older time. Culturally, the world of Adeline and that of her grandparents are very different. From Adeline’s story, what can you see that has changed and what has stayed the same over time?

The successful essay writer would note the similarities in terms of what is expected from each of the sexes but the differences in the process. While women in Adeline's time have more opportunities than before, they are expected to play a role similar to that in the times of footbinding. It will be important to note the specific aspects of Adeline's story that tie back, like the arranged marriages and the ability of her to study abroad. However, it will be crucial to note counterexamples within the novel.

How does the political climate of the time affect the development of Adeline's story?

Adeline lives in the midst of major changes in Chinese society, with the upcoming victory of the People's Liberation Army bringing about massive governmental evolution. However, it seems like the primary impact that this has on Adeline is on her location, not her personality. There are two ways the writer may take this. For one, he can say that national politics have little effect on the day to day lives of the people, particularly in a family as affluent as the Yens. On the other hand, the writer may question the reliability of the narrator, since Adeline may not be able to grasp how the rise of the Communist party affected her parent's personal development and thus the growth of their children.

Does the title of 'Chinese Cinderella' truly fit Adeline Yah, or is this an inaccurate view of her life?

There are many dimensions to a question of this magnitude, which must be made to fit under the banners of "yes" and "no". The argument on the side of "yes" would point to the cruelty of her adopted stepmother and the self-reliance that created the opportunities that she had today. The stereotypical "no" side would point to the wealth of the Yen family and the opportunities this afforded her, which would arguably outweigh the personal difficulties that she had to overcome. However, a exceptional "no" essay would not focus on the wealth aspect but rather on how the self-reliant aspect of Adeline's story makes her very different from Cinderella, both Chinese and Western.

Chinese Cinderella Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Chinese Cinderella is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

was Tianjin a pleasant place in which to live in Adeline's early years?

Tianjin was not a pleasant place for Adeline to grow up in. A year after her mother’s death, her father remarried a “seventeen year old Eurasian beauty fourteen years his junior” (4) of French and Chinese ancestry. Soon after, they had two...

What are your feelings toward the death of the duckling? Do you blame Father, Third Brother, or Jackie for it's death?

I pretty much blame the father for this although the others were complacent. It was father's idea to test the dog's obedience on the duckling. Of course I feel badly about what happened, I can't stand it when animals get hurt in books...

Why is big brother so forceful?

Adeline's eldest brother is distinct from the other three in that he often shows a maturity corresponding to his position, albeit interposed with flashes of malice that corrode any of Adeline's built-up good will. Big Brother, along with his other...

Study Guide for Chinese Cinderella

Chinese Cinderella study guide contains a biography of Adeline Yen Mah, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Chinese Cinderella
• Chinese Cinderella Summary
• Character List

Essays for Chinese Cinderella

Chinese Cinderella essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah.

• The Significance of Family in 'Chinese Cinderella'

Lesson Plan for Chinese Cinderella

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Chinese Cinderella
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Chinese Cinderella Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Chinese Cinderella

• Introduction