Preview

Adeline Yen Mah's Chinese Cinderella

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
321 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Adeline Yen Mah's Chinese Cinderella
Book Description A riveting memoir of a girl's painful coming-of-age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s. A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and a powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for -- the love and understanding of her family. Following the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cynthia Kadohata Analysis

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The story starts with two sisters, Lynn And Katie, with their happy family living in Iowa. The plot is well described and gives readers thorough details of both the characters personalities and their behaviour. Cynthia Kadohata focuses on writing about the relationship of Katie and her family, and how she and Lynn would have fun together. The book involves a lot of conversing between characters, allowing us to understand more of the feelings of different people.…

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Five years after her mother graduated, she married “Ainsworth’s father” and became a homemaker.(www2.webster.edu-woolflim/ainsworth.htm) “Ainsworth’s parents” will always work all the time and when Ainsworth was 5, her father was transferred to a job in Canada working at a manufacturing firm, so the entire family move over there. (www2.webster.edu-woolflim/ainsworth.htm) It was time for them to over there because “Ainsworth’s parents” want to move in a new life. (www2.webster.edu-woolflim/ainsworth.htm) They were so happy that they were going to move to Canada where “Ainsworth’s father” works. (www2.webster.edu-woolflim/ainsworth.htm) She was very close with her father, who assumed the duties of tucking her in at night and singing to her and it was very special to her that she was close to her father, but will be singing to her.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing.” This quote by Pele, a soccer player regarded as one of the best of all time, describes the determination that it took for Adeline to succeed and overcome her childhood. In the memoir, Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, the author writes about the support from Ye Ye, Aunt Baba, and also rising above her abusive childhood.…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Yen Jun Ling Sparknotes

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Yen Jun-ling grew up in an extreme environment. She was an unwanted child, as she was blamed for her mother’s death during childbirth. Her father resented her, her stepmother resented her, and even her own siblings resented her. Her struggle to find freedom from her oppressive house hold is evident throughout her memoir. Yen Jun-ling was at the top of her class since her first day of school.…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When they were younger they stuck together and even though they had problems they had faith in their parents. Their parents made them strong and gave them a lot of experiences. Some of which would be being able to pet a real tiger, sleeping under the stars in the desert, and many more. At times it made it seem like the kids were the most wonderful, important part of their parents’ lives, but at others it seemed like they were either too busy to be parents or had better things to do with more important things. When they were younger they believed that the adventures they were going on were actually that, but it was really the family just needing to move to stay away from certain people and unpaid bills. But for all of the good experiences there was also a not so great experience. Their dad was drunk for a lot of their life and when he was drunk he would yell at them and not be a good father. He took Jeannette to a bar and pretty much let a stranger do anything he wanted with her just to get some money. Their mom would have mental break-down type of things and the kids would have to do everything around the house. It seemed like at times their dad would do anything just to get some money for alcohol or who knows what; he would even take the money that the kids needed to buy food and pay the bills, which the kids shouldn’t have to be worried…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Their family always was pleased and in check with the bills for the first few months when they moved to a new house. Two places where they stayed the longest was Phoenix and Blue Mountain. In both areas Dad found good paying job as miner or electrician in a mine and for the first few months all the family’s needs were full filled according to the writer. However, when dad lost his job, things around the house would go back into chaos and left mom no choice but to teach and this made life better with their needs met again. During these days everyone was happy and the children received presents regularly like a new bicycle. These events were when the most smiles and happiness in kids was shone off. Finally towards the end of the book everyone moved to New York City and from beginning to end in their stay everyone was joyful. However their dad did die and Maureen moved to California after stabbing her mother but order was still there. Jeanette went to an Ivy League college and after graduating she became a journalist which was what she always wanted to be since high school. The author made this time seem very cheerful except when they talked about her parents in the streets. Towards the end the thanksgiving dinner brought the family all together witch it brought forth a conclusion worth reading. The Glass Castle states on the last paragraph “We raised our glasses. I could almost hear Dad chuckling at Mom's comment in the way he always did when he was truly enjoying something.” This showed at the end of all the pain and suffering there was true peace for their family at…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    chinese cinderella notes

    • 1125 Words
    • 4 Pages

    1. How many siblings does Adeline have? What are they like? 7 and they all neglect Adeline.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The children in the novel, The Glass Castle, had a rough childhood filled with instability and crazy parents. They experienced many hardships throughout their life however, the children were given many rare opportunities that some people can only dream of doing. At the time, these opportunities may not have presented themselves as great gift but the memories created were soon appreciated by the children, especially Jeannette. For example, during one of the family’s skedaddles, they were forced to spend the night in the vast desert under the stars. At the time, the child complained about the circumstances. Later in the novel, when her father passed away, Jeannette recalls that night and treasures the memories created by such a unique event.…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narrator, Amanda Coyne, begins her essay from the mother’s perspective. She describes herself visiting her sister in Federal Prison Camp with her nephew. The story is focused on the relationship of separated children and their imprisoned mothers. The narrator describes the mother’s unusual response to their children in regards to the smell of the flowers bouquet. The way that mothers were referring to the smell so significant gives a visualization of a deep longing and separation in their hearts. The common use of anecdotes and juxtaposition in this writing stands out as a useful tool to describe the characters. The use of a brief narrative to describe kids shows a bit of resentment children.…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Furthermore, not only do the parents disregard their kids and cause them to face difficult situations on their own, but they also hindered their [the kids] progress. “Someone had slashed him [Oz] apart with a knife and stole all the money. I knew it was Dad … stoop this low … I just want to win a stupid little scholarship” (Walls 228,227). The siblings acquired jobs to help them escape to New York because they felt unfulfilled with their current life in Welch. Ordinarily, Dad’s interest was solely in the money he used for buying alcohol or gambling and he refused to care about the children’s dreams. When Dad stole the money, intended for Lori’s escape, the kids’ challenge was to work harder to recoup the lost money. Jeannette matured through her new experiences with her father as she realized that her Dad was not a hero but an alcoholic who would steal money from his kids for his desires. With his strong opinions, Dad did anything in his will to prove Lori wrong and his frustration caused him to ruin Lori’s sculpture for a scholarship. Living with neglectful parents was hard enough, but the worst result was that it brought out mental anguish in the children, especially…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Their father says to them “he would rather have them be more involved in school and go to college; he gives them the option to work on the farm if they want to”. No longer having to mandatorily work on the farm, she becomes more involved in school and even took on a job as a waitress. She still notices that she’s different, very mature, and can handle more responsibility than others. Some days she reflects back to life on the farm and realizes that it has taught her a “valuable lesson making her the person she is as an…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the autobiographical novel The Glass Castle by Jennette Walls, Jennette is a young girl growing up in a dysfunctional family full of hard circumstances and extreme poverty. Yet her experiences are still very exciting; having many adventures. Her father is an alcoholic, but when sober is expressive and brilliant, teaching Jennette and her two siblings Brian and Lori about the wonders of life. Jennette changes throughout her struggles from being a wondering naïve child, to becoming bitter towards her parents for the lifestyle they have put her in to finally developing into a resilient and independent young lady finally accepting her parents for who they are.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Kira Kira

    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages

    This story is told from the view of the younger sister, Katie, who learns about life, love and perseverance through the perceptive guidance of her sister Lynn. The two sisters have a bond that makes this story heart touching and holds the 6th-8th grade readers ' imagination. The format uses a child 's view to gradually introduce readers to topics of prejudice, cultural differences, and hardships. The following is an example from page 34.…

    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cisneros Essay

    • 565 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Being an only daughter in a family of six brothers not only affects her identity, but it also has a huge impact on her future. When she was little her brothers would not play with her…

    • 565 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Abakada Ina Films

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Estella tries to make ends meet as a market vendor. Miling, a school teacher, looks down on her daughter-in-law's lack of formal education, and blames the family's misfortunes on her. Estella finds her role in the family and her self-respect dwindling.…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays