The book A Chinese Cinderella begins in the fall of 1941. The main character is a young girl named Adeline and she is in kindergarten. Adeline has 4 birth siblings, Lydia, Gregory, Edgar, and James and 2 step siblings, Franklin and Susan. Adeline's meanest sibling is Edgar. Edgar goes out of his way to make Adeline's life miserable. He enjoys hurting her and making her feel like she is less than him. James, the youngest of the boys, is sometimes compassionate towards Adeline; however, he is in…
Composers have the power to create different worlds and new messages. The autobiographical novel Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah and the drama Across the Barricades by Joan Lingard demonstrate the hardships faced by individuals in difficult circumstances and their ability to escape to new places. In these texts the composers have developed the concept of new messages having the power to change an individual’s lack of acceptance in their world. _In Chinese Cinderella, the protagonist…
Throughout Adeline’s life the concept of affectivity and affective neutrality took precedent within her family, she couldn’t rely on receiving emotional gratification from a relationship. Most often Adeline was subject to verbal abuse from her step mother, as well as physical abuse. Adeline won class president at her school one year, to celebrate her friends showing up uninvited to her house to celebrate her victory. However no victory was to ensue but instead humiliation by Niang for all to…
Chinese Cinderella is the perfect title for this touching and emotional novel. Chinese Cinderella is a true story of Adeline Yen Mah's childhood where she was hated and despised by her family because she is believed to be the cause of her mother's death. Despite this, she is an extremely intelligent girl trying exceedingly hard at school, desperate to prove her worth. Some of the themes evident in this novel are perseverance, isolation, Tragedy, Acceptance and self-worth. One of the themes of…
This novel was written by Adeline Yen Mah. Chinese Cinderella is a true story about an unwanted daughter. The author Adeline Yen Mah is telling us about her life between the ages of four through her early teens. At the beginning of the story she comes home with a medal the very first week of school. She received the medal for being the best student of the week. Aunt Baba was so proud of her little niece, so she put the certificate and the medal, the same place she kept her valuables. Aunt Baba…
“How old are you...Now give me your date of birth” (Yeh Mah 125), her father asks as he is filling out paperwork to enter Tianjin for another boarding school she is sent off too. Her father also forgets Adeline’s Chinese name and needs to ask her what it is. This is probably the saddest part of the book which shows exactly how unimportant she is to this family. For…
“Chinese Cinderella is dedicated to you (unwanted children) with the fervent wish that you will persist in trying to do your best in the face of hopelessness; to have faith in the end your spirit will prevail; to transcend your abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity and compassion.” (Yen Mah xii) Adeline Yen Mah’s memoir of her childhood was influential as she overcame hardships and burdens; finding hope in difficult situations. The story was inspirational because Adeline…
An unwanted child is a depressed child. Depression is a horrible thing. The Chinese Cinderella, Adeline, is an unwanted child. Some would even say that she is depressed. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah is an inspirational story because she is self reliant, able to realize a problem and then solve it, and able to recognize a power change even though she came from an abusive childhood. Adeline was able to recognize a do a power change from Nai Nai to Niang. "In those few moments…
In the story “Chinese Cinderella” It tells about this Girls life. Her name being “Adeline-Yen Mah”. A ten year old who lives in China you get to read about her life of living without a mother or a father. Also having a family that hates her and consenters her “bad luck”. The mother of Adeline died giving birth to her. The mother of Adeline Died From a high fever three days after Adeline was born. Adeline mother died two weeks after Adeline was born. Even Adeline’s own sister hated her…
Adeline is like a broken toy, forgotten and not loved. The novel Chinese Cinderella explains how a young girl fights through her heartbreak and suffer. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah tells a story about a young Chinese girl who has a depressing life, and her siblings accusing her of killing there mother. Her grandmother dies of a massive stroke, and her mean step-mother slaps her and physically abuses her throughtout the entire book. Also, her first pet is brutally murdered by her…