“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.…
Have you read any Cinderella stories rather than the one everyone knows? If not there are many other Cinderella story’s to read but the one everyone knows is the original one which is much alike to the France one. There are other versions like Mexico, German, Chinese, and Africa and many others more. Two that have some similarities and differences are the French and Chinese. In the France and Chinese Cinderella story a beautiful young girl suffers a lot and is very badly mistreated but at the end of the day she gets her happiness that she has been waiting for and lives happily ever after with her prince charming.…
Her stepmother struck her hard in the face, her father whipped her multiple times, and her siblings blamed her for their mother’s death. Just wonder she felt, Adeline Yen Mah, with her horrid family, separation from her only loved ones; her aunt and single grandfather, and her genius mind that only her beloved Aunt Baba treasured. As it seems, this depressing novel, Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, the one who lived through it all, was the most unfortunate girl in all of eastern China.…
In Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, Hong Kingston shares a tragic story involving one of her aunts. Originally the story was told to Hong Kingston by her mother, but a lot of the information was withheld so Hong Kingston includes a lot of what she thinks could have happened. Regardless of what is true and what is not, this piece of writing was extremely engaging and interesting. Hong Kingston dives into the norms held in Chinese culture and how they affect different people.…
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” (Albert Einstein). This quote especially applies to the main character of Chinese Cinderella, Adeline. Many people gave her the impression that she was worthless, but some believed in her. In the memoir Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, Adeline has a very tough childhood. However, her grandfather, Ye Ye, and her aunt, Aunt Baba, continuously support her, and Adeline would not have risen above her abusive childhood without them.…
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.…
A young Chinese American woman, Jing-Mei “June” Woo, recalls, after her mother's death, her mother's sadness at having left her twin baby girls in China in 1949. June has used her mother's regret as a weapon in a battle of wills focusing on what her mother wants her to be and what she wants. June wins, leaving her mother, Suyuan, stunned when she says she wishes she were dead like the twins. Although this scene characterizes the common struggle for power between mother and daughter, the story also illustrates…
In the article, “Cinderella and Princess Culture”, Peggy Orenstein, a contributing writer for New York Times Magazine, explores the successful “princess” market and how it negatively impacts young children. Orenstein claims that the princess culture promotes a common gender stereotype of women to young children, especially young girls; therefore, society should lessen the encouragement of being a “princess” and fortify their promotion to a more strong-willed role model (327). Although the article contains evidence to support her claim, Orenstein is unsuccessful because of the use of her biases and opinions placed throughout the article, that expresses her own negative views toward princesses and the feministic reinforcements she makes on her own daughter.…
“No Name Woman” is a work of literature that tells about Kingston’s upcoming in the Chinese-American culture. The core of the story is about a story that Kingston’s mother is telling her about her aunt. “In China, your father had a sister who killed herself… We say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born.”(1507) Kingston continued to listen to her mother explain that her aunt was pregnant and accused of adultery because her husband had been away for some time. Kingston’s mother tells her this story solely to teach her a lesson about the responsibilities of becoming a woman. “Don’t let your father know that I told you. He denies her. Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her could happen to you.” Kingston’s family wants her to participate in the punishment of her aunt; however, she interprets the story as a different lesson. She relates to her aunt because, like Kingston, her aunt did not want to conform to norms of society. Kingston relates to the spiteful acts of her aunt. She feels that in order for her to understand the moral of the story, then her aunts life must branch into her own. Kingston interprets her own judgement of her aunt. Instead of conforming to her family’s beliefs, she forms her own purpose of the story. Kingston shows great cultural growth by honoring her aunt using…
The relationship between stepmother and stepdaughter from the true story novel “Falling Leaves, Chinese Cinderella” written by Adeline Yen Mah, in todays society. The aim of this extended essay is to find out more about the relationship between stepmother and stepdaughter. The relationship between these two people is very complicated and hard to understand even in this modern world. People often stereotyping the image of stepmother as the opposite of real mother who are kind and loving.…
Adeline Yen Mah is the fifth younger sister in the family is the last child of her original mother. Her family blames her for her mom’s death and calls her bad luck. They also often forget her and does not care for her. An example of this is when Adeline says “Eventually, I was the only one left. Nobody had come for me.” This shows how alone Adeline was and felt because of her family.…
In common practice, the ability to fit in with cultural standards and traditions is significant to one’s wellbeing and their potential to succeed in life. This belief is put into straight opposition in Zhang Jie’s “Love Must Not Be Forgotten” where despite having ideologies of a perfect socialist society placed upon them by the government of the People’s Republic of China, Shanshan and her mother are able to renounce such standards yet succeed in life. Through the portrayal of sacrificial love, admiration for education and significance of female autonomy, Jie emphasizes the rebellious attitude characterized by many females during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and its benefits in advancing the Chinese society.…
The theme in the book “Chinese Cinderella” is important as it highlights, how the impact you have in the world and that the success some enjoy are not due to pre determined social status or by the amount of money you have but by determination and dedication to a cause or goal. It teaches us that the ability to achieve goals and harness the great potential that lies within everybody cannot only be accomplished by possessing skills or intelligence. In contrast while the latter may be vital determination and perseverance is even more so as without the ability to persevere towards a better tomorrow and without the fortitude to achieve it, our skills and intelligence become a useless commodity, our capabilities and potential lie dormant within, waiting for us to gather the strength and courage to achieve them.…
“The hardships that I endured in the past will help me succeed in the future.”-Philip Emeagwali. In the memoir Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, Adeline is in a constant war with the challenges and the people in her early life. These challenges shaped who Adeline was and who she was yet to become, the hard times helped her pursue her success in the future.…
When I was a little girl, I dreamed about living in a fairy tale world. I would wake up everyday and put on my glass slippers, pretending to be a princess. Because of this, one day my dad ultimately surprised me with a plane ride and tickets to Disney World. I can still vividly remember that day like it was yesterday. Little did I know that this would be a trip that I would not soon forget.…