International GCSE
Chinese Cinderella
Key Facts about 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
Climatic Scene: Adeline is called home to speak with Father, where he reveals
that she has won an international playwriting competition.
Antagonist: Niang
Point of View / Perspective: first-person narrative
THEMES/ CONTENT
The importance of education and school to the narrator (probably as a means of escape from
home)
, The distance relationships between Adeline & her father/mother/family/home
The traditional family and gender roles evident in this family- in particular the importance of
duty
Pride and the importance of her parents being proud of her; her earning her parent’s ‘face’
Emotional progressions: Depression – anxious tension – uncertain relief – happy excitement
Remind yourself of the passage Chinese Cinderella from the Edexcel Anthology .
(the text will be provided)
How does the writer show her thoughts and feelings in this passage?
You should refer closely to the passage to support your answer. You
may include brief quotations. (the passage when she is summonsed
to her father’s room)
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?’
(Additional note: the simile “like entering heaven” infers that she considers her present
life to be commensurate with being in hell)
Within this quote, there is usage of descriptive adjectives. However, most significantly is
the use of different sentence types to create the emotion.
Chinese Cinderella
Key Facts about 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
Climatic Scene: Adeline is called home to speak with Father, where he reveals
that she has won an international playwriting competition.
Antagonist: Niang
Point of View / Perspective: first-person narrative
THEMES/ CONTENT
The importance of education and school to the narrator (probably as a means of escape from
home)
, The distance relationships between Adeline & her father/mother/family/home
The traditional family and gender roles evident in this family- in particular the importance of
duty
Pride and the importance of her parents being proud of her; her earning her parent’s ‘face’
Emotional progressions: Depression – anxious tension – uncertain relief – happy excitement
Remind yourself of the passage Chinese Cinderella from the Edexcel Anthology .
(the text will be provided)
How does the writer show her thoughts and feelings in this passage?
You should refer closely to the passage to support your answer. You
may include brief quotations. (the passage when she is summonsed
to her father’s room)
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?’
(Additional note: the simile “like entering heaven” infers that she considers her present
life to be commensurate with being in hell)
Within this quote, there is usage of descriptive adjectives. However, most significantly is
the use of different sentence types to create the emotion.
