"My heart gave a giant lurch as it dawned on me that he was agreeing to let me go. How marvelous it felt 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?"(Mah 192) Adeline an exceptional bright kid who wants to prove to her father she is worth something and to get attention from Niang.
The memoir Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, is inspiring novel. It is inspiring because Adeline achieved her dream, Adeline was very good at school even though Niang told her she is dumb, and her grandpa and Aunt Baba helped her stay focused on her dream and remind her of her dream. This is an inspiring story because she proves that even though she has a rough life she achieved
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her dream. Her parents weren’t there for her, but she still did very well in all her schools. “It’s for leading my class this week. When Mother Agnes pinned it on my dress, she said I could wears it for seven days”(Mah 2). This shows from the young age of four she was already doing very well in school. This also shows that her Aunt Baba was proud of her. “She skipped two grades and will be going into form five after the holidays, at thirteen”(167)! This shows she was smart enough to skip two grades. This also shows her teachers have noticed that she is very smart. All in all Adeline is very bright and has a bright future ahead of her. Her father didn’t even know her name, but her grandpa, and Aunt Baba didn’t let her get discouraged.
”I’m sick and tired of blindly copying Chinese characters over and over into my notebook like a robot…. they’ll see you as a Chinese girl no matter how well you speak English”(150-151). This shows Adeline gets discouraged Ye Ye had helped her. This also shows he gives her a bit of tough love. “Here is a new story I want you never to forget. Whenever you
feel discouraged, and those clouds come back, take out this letter and read it again”(195). This shows that Adeline even an 14 year old needs encouragement. It also shows only Ye Ye and Aunt Baba were there to encourage her. As a result her Aunt Baba and grandpa care for her even though her parents don’t.
Her parents gave her no hope at all, but she still manages to achieve her dream of becoming a writer. “No more classes! No more schoolmates! No possibility of ever going to college! Not even high school diploma! How devastating!... Is this going to happen to me too? I’ll simply have to run away from home if Niang ever threatens to force me into an arranged marriage”(86). Adeline wants to go to college she doesn’t want to be like Big Sister and be in an arranged marriage. She wants to go to college to be educated and to become a writer. “My heart gave a giant lurch as it dawned on me that he was agreeing to let me go. How marvelous it felt 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”(192)? Adeline was an inspiration showing little kids and adults that you can achieve your dream. Adeline by Yen Mah shows that you're able to anything you put your mind too. This bright kid was such an exceptional child and had so much potential she just had to let her shine. Adeline proves anything is possible if you get the opportunity, she impacted many.
Cinderella is a childhood fairytale created through Disney that highlights fairy godmother magic, animated nature with talking animals, and happily ever after ending. While the latent meaning we grow
Adeline had been treated like trash all of her life by her parents. “Nothing will ever come to you.”(Yen Mah 103) Niang is a very strict, distasteful, and hated person in the book. This is important because it shows that Niang is cruel. “Girls like you should be sent away.”(Yen Mah 103) This is important because it shows that Niang hates Adeline. All in all, this shows that when Adeline was a child, she was treated like trash by Niang.
It all begins with “Once upon a time” and ends with “and they lived happily ever after”. “Cinderella” is a very widely known story that many children around the world look up to and admire through their entire life. The history of this story, how scholars interpret this tale, and how the authors have retold the story are all key points to keeping this story fresh and popular. Most of the time when people hear the story of “Cinderella”, they think about the Disney version and maybe it is time that changes. All in all, the story brings light to everyone’s life even if they only know the original “Cinderella”.
The two short stories, “The Princess of Nebraska” and “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” by Yiyun Li, depict the lives of two people under Chinese communist control, trapped by the social restraints of their society in search of individual salvation. In “Princess of Nebraska”, a young girl (Sasha) struggles to find internal purpose and satisfaction within her life, feeling that the restraints of communist control keep her from achieving the sense of self she desires. She believes the United States is the solution to gaining her individual freedom and fantasizes the recreation of her identity and life. Similarly, “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” revolves around the same theme of social freedom vs the discovery of the individual self. Mr.Shi,
The reader comprehends this from learning her symptoms of nausea and heavy vaginal bleeding, When she reaches her aunt’s house, the reception that she receives is very different from the cold, void interactions between herself and her mother. “She [Aunt Erma] stared at me, puzzled. Then she spread opens her arms. ‘Adelaine, baby! I wasn’t expecting you! Hey, come on in and say hi to your cousins. Pepsi! Cola! Look who came by for your birthday!’ She gave me a tight bear hug and I wanted to cry” (Robinson 202). The aunt welcomes Adelaine with open arms representative of a warm familial bond and this physical demonstration of love almost brings Adelaine to tears. Her decision to stay at her aunts forms as a recovery period and serves as an opportunity for her to experience a positive family dynamic. Her aunt and cousins genuine caring demeanor towards Adelaine is a striking contrast to her relationship with her family at home. In this process, she works towards a stronger sense of self, moving closers to breaking her
Adeline had a very rough childhood, but at least Aunt Baba helps her to get back up when she is knocked down by the people in her family who treat her as unwanted. For instance, one of the quotes in the book said “The truth is that as soon as I had heard Aunt Baba’s footsteps, I had started feeling better immediately. Knowing there was someone who cared for and believed in me had revived my spirit” (Yen Mah 79). This passage from the novel describes how Adeline knows how much Aunt Baba cares for her. Aunt Baba is a huge part of Adeline’s life and
She sacrificed almost all her personal pleasure for studying, but she did not see the point why she should make such sacrifice since she found the class reading as well as essays hardly arouse her interests. As she finally laid her eye on the bookshelf, seeing all the certificates and awards she had earned, Jennifer suddenly thought of what her father had told her, “school always comes first”. Tiredly and aimlessly, Jennifer signed and looked at a picture of her father. Slowly closing her eyes, she temporarily forgot about all the things like a tough life and overwhelming schoolwork which could make her stressful, and let her beautiful childhood memories of balloons, carousels and her father’s smiling face come into
In the days leading up to her graduation, she was so excited about receiving her diploma for her academic accomplishments, even though she hasn’t accomplished a lot in life by experiencing a little bit of it. She felt like the birthday girl with her pretty dress, beautiful hair, and the presents she received from Uncle Willie and her mother. She felt like it w...
... her own person and wanting only to be accepted for who she is and not who she could be. Even though the argument was never discussed it still haunted Jing-mei. That is why Jing-mei was surprised when her mother offered her the piano for her thirtieth birthday, she took it as a sign of forgiveness.
Most children experience agony and hope as they face the struggles of sibling rivalry throughout their childhood. This situation has been experienced by children, of whom may or may not have siblings, for hundreds of years. Several stories represent this crisis, including the Biblical story of Abel and Cain which was written over 3000 years ago. Abel of whom was forced to be Cain’s ash-brother. Cain had developed an intense feeling of jealousy of Abel when his offering to the Lord was rejected while Abel’s was accepted. This caused him great agony, but he wasn’t the only one. The fairytale “Cinderella” encompasses the ideas of sibling rivalry as well as the agonies and hopes that correspond with it.
While reading and watching films of different cultural Fairy Tales, you notice like an every Cinderella Tale there is a girl who is tired of living a life where they just want to be better. Also from all the different versions of Cinderella stories, all of them are surrounded by jealousy, hate, and negative vibes. However, there are cultural difference that is expressed in each of the different versions of these Fairy Tales. In my paper I am going to express these differences, the two versions that I’ll be talking about is “Aschenputtel” which is the Germany version, and a modern version “Maid in Manhattan”. My goal in this essay is to compare the historical context between the two, and also the cultural differences
Adeline Yen Mah’s literary skills explain comprehensively how Niang’s flawed personality cause great agony for Adeline. However, it is being mistreated by Niang that ultimately fuels her to undertake the seemingly impossible task of trying to succeed in life. Adeline’s great accomplishments in life were the result of her unfaltering determination in the face of injustice. Niang inadvertently helped her achieve that.
With her graduation day coming soon, her mom made sure to remind her that she will be attending college. “‘you’re going to college’ my mother told. Actually it was not so much a statement as a command- that’s the way Mami often spoke” this was stated on page 101 in paragraph. This stood out to me because it reminded me of how my own mother is, she would always tell me that I would attend college, I had no other option but to attend college if I wanted to be successful in life. I was always questioning her; I would say to myself how is college the only way to success when I would see a lot of the successful never attended school. most of my friends were working and going to school. I wanted to work and provide for myself much like Cecilia
Each person in the world has heard of Cinderella, no matter what kind of version it may be. Cinderella is the one fairy tale story that has been popular and will always be the one tale that has to be told to children. Words and story lines might be twist and turn, but in the end the knowledge of the story will be learned in similar ways. As we all know when one story is told another is created, when one is at its best then another is at its worse. One version will always be better than another, but no matter what version it might be the story will be told.
The classic tale of Cinderella is well known for the fight of overcoming great obstacles despite great odds. However, there are always a few ill-hearted people who go out of their way to cease any competition that they might face, as seen with Cinderella’s step-sisters. Samuel Jackson says is his distinguished quote, “The hunger of imagination…lures us to…the phantoms of hope,” to help develop a more defined view of a fairytale. The story of Cinderella fully embodies the ideals of a true fairytale by encompassing magic, hope, and struggle between good and evil throughout the duration of the plot.