Sequencing Strips – True / False
Adeline wins medal for topping her kindergarten class
Grandmother Nai Nai tell Adeline about the horrible custom of foot binding in China
Adeline trying to find her way home after her first way home
Adeline's happy day visiting her friend Wu Chun Mei ends in tragedy when she is caught by Niang and whipped by father
Adeline, Big Sister, Big Brother and Second Brother join Father, Niang and Fourth Brother in Shanghai
P.L.T, Adeline’s best friend in the world dies.
Adeline’s happy day visiting her friend Wu Chun Mei ends in tragedy when she is caught by Niang and whipped by Father.
Adeline becomes friends with her cousins Victor and Claudine on the boat journey to Hong Kong after she is rescued from Tianjin by her Aunt Raine who treats her just like she treats her own children.
Adeline wins the 1951/1952 International Play Writing Competition.
True / False… In pairs, read each of the statements below. Decide if each statement is true or false and support your answer (give a reason) with reference to a specific event or scene in the novel. Write your answer in the space provided: T for True, if you think the statement is true and F for False, if you think the statement is false.
(F) Jun-ling is the name Adeline is known by outside her family – p. 76
(F)The name of Adeline’s pet duckling is Jackie – p. 84
(F)Ye Ye was a follower of the Hindu religion - see photo section
(T)Grandmother Nai Nai had her feet bound according to an ancient custom – p. 7
(T)Third brother (James) was Adeline’s favourite brother
(T)Writing stories helped Adeline to forget she was unwanted and loney – p. 61
(T)Informing the reader about China’s history and culture was one reason Adeline Yen Mah wrote her story – Author’s notes,pxi
(F)Adeline’s classmates gave her the nickname ‘Genius’ – p. 188
(F)The Communists lost the Civil War in China – p. 232
(F)Niang was half Chinese and half Italian – p. 4
(T)Adeline kept her family’s treatment of her a secret from her school friends – p. 63
(F)Adeline always wore the latest, fashionable clothes – p. 62-63, 188, 194
(T) Aunt Baba loved Adeline very much and always believed in her and made her feel special – p. 60, 223
(T)Adeline dedicated the play she wrote for the International competition to Ye Ye, because he believed in her – p. 208, 210
(F)Father agreed to let Adeline study literature at university in England – p. 221
Chinese Cinderella questions.
1) Provide examples that demonstrate Adeline’s cleverness and her desire to work hard at school.
2) Sister Agnes is Adeline’s teacher at school. What kind of school do you think she attends?
Adeline attends a catholic school for girls called?
3) How would you feel if foreigners who did not speak your language were controlling your city?
I would feel alone and like I didn’t belong and I would want to go back to where people spoke my language but I would try and learn the language to try and fit in and not feel so alone .
4) In Nai Nai’s time women were made to bind their feet. Provide some examples of what unpleasant or painful things women and/or men go through today to be more ‘beautiful’.
Plastic surgery (nose jobs, tummy tucks, ect…)
Diets (unhealthy diets, like starving themselves or eating way to much)
5) Do you have any brothers and/or sisters who have ever treated you badly? If so, explain the particular incident and how it made you feel
I Don’t have any full brothers or sisters but once My younger half-brother, Tyler yelled and Hit me really hard because I Sat in his chair….
6) Adeline feels more accepted at school rather than at home. Why do you think she feels this way?
I think she feels like that because her whole family thinks she’s a curse and treat her badly and if something good happens to her they make her feel bad and says she showing off but at school noby treats her bad or is mean to her and everyone’s happy for her when she gets an award or something good happens to her
7) In the novel, Nai Nai has a Buddhist funeral. Have you ever attended a funeral? Explain what it was like. Why do you think these ceremonies for death are performed?
The funeral I once went to was very sad and upsetting.
There wasn’t much talk about what was going on so I didn’t exactly understand at the time what was going on until we all went outside to say the final goodbyes,
I Think the death ceremonies are performed to say the last goodbyes to whoever it is that passed and to memorize how good of a person they were
Chapters 5-6
1. Adeline learns a few lessons on her first day at school. What was your first day at school like? Can you remember? If not, describe your first day at high school.
My first day of high school I was lost and didn’t know where to go and didn’t know anyone until I found Maree that I met the year before at 9 our teacher miss Sinclair came outside and made us line up in the order of our birthdays without talking I learnt it very hard communicating in silence but we did it then we watched a few clips on internet safety and then it was time to go home .
Chapters 7 - 8
1. Was Adeline’s decision not to beg for the tram fare a wise one? What would you have done in her position?
I think in a way of not begging she saved her dignity but I would of begged for the tram fare because I couldn’t walk all of that way and see people laughing at me because I walk and I wouldn’t walk when it was raining
Chapters 9 - 13
1) Read Adeline’s composition on pages 60-61
2. Have you ever had a pet that died? How did you feel? Did you have a funeral ceremony for it? If so, explain what you did and said.
I Felt very upset and Was crying for a few weeks because my pet was so special to me, We didn’t exactly have a funeral but we did burry her under a willow tree.
3. What are you feelings toward Big Sister’s arranged marriage and what are your thoughts on this idea in general?
I think it’s a terrible idea because most of the marriages the two people don’t even love each other or is way too young or in some cases both.
4. Write the election speech you would present if you were standing for election for school captain.
I think I would be a great class president because I am very responsible easy to talk to I’m very focused on what we need and what we don’t need. I’m helpful and kind I can think outside the box and I will argue your points across to make the school better for us I will fight for the student as well as the teachers and that’s why it think I should be your class president .
5) Write the election speech you would present if you were standing for election for school captain.
Chapter 14-17
1. Explain how Adeline is saved from the Communists. Why was she was in danger from them?
Aunt Reine came to Adeline’s rescue in Tianjin when she and her family was sailing to Hong Kong before the communist get to them and she remembered Adeline was In a boarding school there(Tianjin) and came and got her.
2. What are some of the differences between the Schillings and Adeline’s own family?
They treat Adeline better than her real family did.
3. What is your opinion of the information about world languages that Ye Ye gives to Adeline on page 171?
I thought I was a very good thing to put in the book and I thought I was very interesting and really informational for me and to other readers because it gave me a sort of an inside into the chinse language.
Chapters 18-22
1. Adeline’s dreams and hopes helped her to survive her childhood. What are your dreams and hopes for your future?
Hope that I get a good education and get into university and get a good job that pays well .
5. Why do you think the novel is called Chinese Cinderella? Write down all the ways in which Adeline’s story is like the story of Cinderella.
I think is called Chinese Cinderella because its similar to the fairy-tale Cinderella
In a way she has step siblings that don’t like her she has an evil stepmother and her father doesn’t care about her and in the end she got to live her dream like Cinderella she also has horrible clothes to wear and horrible food to eat and had not so good living conditions.
Chinese Cinderella - Themes
Family and relationships
Adeline is not so much disliked by her family as ignored. She is blamed for the death of her mother and therefore her siblings feel their family situation is her fault. ‘If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.’ (page 3)
Adeline has no close friends or confidants. She has a close relationship with her Aunt Baba, but not with her school friends. Adeline holds herself apart from them in an effort to project the false impression that she has a happy family life. Adeline’s relationship with her father exists only through her school performances or her misbehaviour. At other times, Adeline is barely acknowledged and rarely appreciated.
Abandonment and loneliness
Adeline has a close relationship only with Aunt Baba. Even then their contact is limited when she is abruptly sent to boarding school in Tianjin. Adeline is almost forgotten by her family and left in an increasingly hostile Tianjin. Her circumstances change only when her step-aunt collects her from the convent and takes her to Hong Kong. Adeline often feels left out of things with her siblings and, instead of attaining their approval for her school effort, she receives their scorn. Her friendship with her pet duck, PLT, best illustrates Adeline’s feelings of isolation and loneliness:
‘It comforted me to know I was needed.’ (page 84)
The loneliness Adeline felt at home was also felt at school, despite her pursuit of academic glory, as friendships she had at school were still empty of the truth as Adeline confided in no one about her family situation.
Self-esteem
There are many examples of poor self esteem in the novel. Adeline is made to feel constantly on the outer by her family. She is rarely included in the family circle and when she is included she is overjoyed.
When Adeline is the focus of a cruel joke by her brothers, she is saddened by Third Brother’s involvement.
Adeline’s father only notices her when she has performed well in school. Attention from her father usually raises Adeline’s self-esteem, while the long stretches of time when Adeline is ignored by her father has the opposite effect.
Adeline is constantly insulted by Niang and even told,
‘you are nothing without your father’ (page 130).
Themes
The themes of a story are
Family and relationships Abandonment and loneliness also self esteem
Events that occur in the plot of a story may indicate its themes. In Chinese Cinderella, the main themes:
Family & relationships
Abandonment & loneliness
Self-esteem
Example:
Adeline is unhappy with her family life, but does not tell anyone out of embarrassment.
‘They didn’t know that, in front of them, I was desperate to keep up the pretence that I came from a normal, loving family.’ (page 63)
Example:
Adeline wonders what her fate will be when she is punished for her friends visiting her. She is constantly afraid of being made an orphan.
‘What’s going to happen to me? Will I be sold?’ (page 131)
Example:
Adeline is constantly reminded that the treatment of her and her siblings is her fault (despite that not really being true).
‘If you had not been born, mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.’ (page 3)
‘’Family ugliness should never be revealed in public since you’re not happy here
You must go somewhere else’’
(page 130)
“Except for me, everyone was striding along purposefully, going somewhere. Everyone had a destination. I must have walked for miles and miles But where was I?”
(page 31)
“My paper remained blank as I thought desperately , do I have any redeeming features?”
(page 215)
Linking quotations to themes
The main themes of the story, Chinese Cinderella, are:
Quote
How quote relates to theme(s)
‘If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.’ (page 3)
This quote relates to the theme of self-esteem.
The reader feels very sorry for Adeline and it is easy to see why she does not feel good about herself and carries guilt if she is constantly spoken to in this way?
‘Continue studying hard and bringing honour to the Yen family name so we can be proud of you.’ (page 11)
This quote relates to the theme of family and relationships .this gives the audience hope in that Adeline will keep studying and not be dragged down by her family
‘Unlike my siblings, no-one looked down on me.’ (Refers to people at school) (page 14)
This quote relates to family and relationships
This lets the audience know how adeline feels about her family and she feels like no one in her family cares about her well being
‘I was winning the medal every week and wearing it constantly… it was the only way to make father take notice and be proud of me.’ (page 16)
This quote relates to family and relationships this lets us know that Adeline strives to get her father’s praise
‘To her we are not separate people. Over here, we have become one single unit known as all of you’. (page 28)
This quote relates to family and relationships
And how naing doesn’t care about the 5 step children and only care about her children
‘One by one they were greeted and led away by anxious mothers. Nobody came for me.’ (page 30)
This quote relates to Abandonment and loneliness also how Adeline felt that everyone forgot about her like she was invisible and no one could see her to care about her
‘We merely want you to acknowledge your errors in the past… We’ll only give you the tram fares if you are truly contrite.’ (page 45)
This quote relates to self-esteem because of the things she has done in the past it lets the audience know that she does get punished .
‘In no time at all big sister went over to the other side. I knew Niang loathed me and despised my aunt.’ (page 59)
This quote relates to Abandonment and loneliness and family and relationships and how Adeline felt like big sister didn’t care about her and just wanted to take advantage of everyone so that she can get her way
Adeline wins medal for topping her kindergarten class
Grandmother Nai Nai tell Adeline about the horrible custom of foot binding in China
Adeline trying to find her way home after her first way home
Adeline's happy day visiting her friend Wu Chun Mei ends in tragedy when she is caught by Niang and whipped by father
Adeline, Big Sister, Big Brother and Second Brother join Father, Niang and Fourth Brother in Shanghai
P.L.T, Adeline’s best friend in the world dies.
Adeline’s happy day visiting her friend Wu Chun Mei ends in tragedy when she is caught by Niang and whipped by Father.
Adeline becomes friends with her cousins Victor and Claudine on the boat journey to Hong Kong after she is rescued from Tianjin by her Aunt Raine who treats her just like she treats her own children.
Adeline wins the 1951/1952 International Play Writing Competition.
True / False… In pairs, read each of the statements below. Decide if each statement is true or false and support your answer (give a reason) with reference to a specific event or scene in the novel. Write your answer in the space provided: T for True, if you think the statement is true and F for False, if you think the statement is false.
(F) Jun-ling is the name Adeline is known by outside her family – p. 76
(F)The name of Adeline’s pet duckling is Jackie – p. 84
(F)Ye Ye was a follower of the Hindu religion - see photo section
(T)Grandmother Nai Nai had her feet bound according to an ancient custom – p. 7
(T)Third brother (James) was Adeline’s favourite brother
(T)Writing stories helped Adeline to forget she was unwanted and loney – p. 61
(T)Informing the reader about China’s history and culture was one reason Adeline Yen Mah wrote her story – Author’s notes,pxi
(F)Adeline’s classmates gave her the nickname ‘Genius’ – p. 188
(F)The Communists lost the Civil War in China – p. 232
(F)Niang was half Chinese and half Italian – p. 4
(T)Adeline kept her family’s treatment of her a secret from her school friends – p. 63
(F)Adeline always wore the latest, fashionable clothes – p. 62-63, 188, 194
(T) Aunt Baba loved Adeline very much and always believed in her and made her feel special – p. 60, 223
(T)Adeline dedicated the play she wrote for the International competition to Ye Ye, because he believed in her – p. 208, 210
(F)Father agreed to let Adeline study literature at university in England – p. 221
Chinese Cinderella questions.
1) Provide examples that demonstrate Adeline’s cleverness and her desire to work hard at school.
2) Sister Agnes is Adeline’s teacher at school. What kind of school do you think she attends?
Adeline attends a catholic school for girls called?
3) How would you feel if foreigners who did not speak your language were controlling your city?
I would feel alone and like I didn’t belong and I would want to go back to where people spoke my language but I would try and learn the language to try and fit in and not feel so alone .
4) In Nai Nai’s time women were made to bind their feet. Provide some examples of what unpleasant or painful things women and/or men go through today to be more ‘beautiful’.
Plastic surgery (nose jobs, tummy tucks, ect…)
Diets (unhealthy diets, like starving themselves or eating way to much)
5) Do you have any brothers and/or sisters who have ever treated you badly? If so, explain the particular incident and how it made you feel
I Don’t have any full brothers or sisters but once My younger half-brother, Tyler yelled and Hit me really hard because I Sat in his chair….
6) Adeline feels more accepted at school rather than at home. Why do you think she feels this way?
I think she feels like that because her whole family thinks she’s a curse and treat her badly and if something good happens to her they make her feel bad and says she showing off but at school noby treats her bad or is mean to her and everyone’s happy for her when she gets an award or something good happens to her
7) In the novel, Nai Nai has a Buddhist funeral. Have you ever attended a funeral? Explain what it was like. Why do you think these ceremonies for death are performed?
The funeral I once went to was very sad and upsetting.
There wasn’t much talk about what was going on so I didn’t exactly understand at the time what was going on until we all went outside to say the final goodbyes,
I Think the death ceremonies are performed to say the last goodbyes to whoever it is that passed and to memorize how good of a person they were
Chapters 5-6
1. Adeline learns a few lessons on her first day at school. What was your first day at school like? Can you remember? If not, describe your first day at high school.
My first day of high school I was lost and didn’t know where to go and didn’t know anyone until I found Maree that I met the year before at 9 our teacher miss Sinclair came outside and made us line up in the order of our birthdays without talking I learnt it very hard communicating in silence but we did it then we watched a few clips on internet safety and then it was time to go home .
Chapters 7 - 8
1. Was Adeline’s decision not to beg for the tram fare a wise one? What would you have done in her position?
I think in a way of not begging she saved her dignity but I would of begged for the tram fare because I couldn’t walk all of that way and see people laughing at me because I walk and I wouldn’t walk when it was raining
Chapters 9 - 13
1) Read Adeline’s composition on pages 60-61
2. Have you ever had a pet that died? How did you feel? Did you have a funeral ceremony for it? If so, explain what you did and said.
I Felt very upset and Was crying for a few weeks because my pet was so special to me, We didn’t exactly have a funeral but we did burry her under a willow tree.
3. What are you feelings toward Big Sister’s arranged marriage and what are your thoughts on this idea in general?
I think it’s a terrible idea because most of the marriages the two people don’t even love each other or is way too young or in some cases both.
4. Write the election speech you would present if you were standing for election for school captain.
I think I would be a great class president because I am very responsible easy to talk to I’m very focused on what we need and what we don’t need. I’m helpful and kind I can think outside the box and I will argue your points across to make the school better for us I will fight for the student as well as the teachers and that’s why it think I should be your class president .
5) Write the election speech you would present if you were standing for election for school captain.
Chapter 14-17
1. Explain how Adeline is saved from the Communists. Why was she was in danger from them?
Aunt Reine came to Adeline’s rescue in Tianjin when she and her family was sailing to Hong Kong before the communist get to them and she remembered Adeline was In a boarding school there(Tianjin) and came and got her.
2. What are some of the differences between the Schillings and Adeline’s own family?
They treat Adeline better than her real family did.
3. What is your opinion of the information about world languages that Ye Ye gives to Adeline on page 171?
I thought I was a very good thing to put in the book and I thought I was very interesting and really informational for me and to other readers because it gave me a sort of an inside into the chinse language.
Chapters 18-22
1. Adeline’s dreams and hopes helped her to survive her childhood. What are your dreams and hopes for your future?
Hope that I get a good education and get into university and get a good job that pays well .
5. Why do you think the novel is called Chinese Cinderella? Write down all the ways in which Adeline’s story is like the story of Cinderella.
I think is called Chinese Cinderella because its similar to the fairy-tale Cinderella
In a way she has step siblings that don’t like her she has an evil stepmother and her father doesn’t care about her and in the end she got to live her dream like Cinderella she also has horrible clothes to wear and horrible food to eat and had not so good living conditions.
Chinese Cinderella - Themes
Family and relationships
Adeline is not so much disliked by her family as ignored. She is blamed for the death of her mother and therefore her siblings feel their family situation is her fault. ‘If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.’ (page 3)
Adeline has no close friends or confidants. She has a close relationship with her Aunt Baba, but not with her school friends. Adeline holds herself apart from them in an effort to project the false impression that she has a happy family life. Adeline’s relationship with her father exists only through her school performances or her misbehaviour. At other times, Adeline is barely acknowledged and rarely appreciated.
Abandonment and loneliness
Adeline has a close relationship only with Aunt Baba. Even then their contact is limited when she is abruptly sent to boarding school in Tianjin. Adeline is almost forgotten by her family and left in an increasingly hostile Tianjin. Her circumstances change only when her step-aunt collects her from the convent and takes her to Hong Kong. Adeline often feels left out of things with her siblings and, instead of attaining their approval for her school effort, she receives their scorn. Her friendship with her pet duck, PLT, best illustrates Adeline’s feelings of isolation and loneliness:
‘It comforted me to know I was needed.’ (page 84)
The loneliness Adeline felt at home was also felt at school, despite her pursuit of academic glory, as friendships she had at school were still empty of the truth as Adeline confided in no one about her family situation.
Self-esteem
There are many examples of poor self esteem in the novel. Adeline is made to feel constantly on the outer by her family. She is rarely included in the family circle and when she is included she is overjoyed.
When Adeline is the focus of a cruel joke by her brothers, she is saddened by Third Brother’s involvement.
Adeline’s father only notices her when she has performed well in school. Attention from her father usually raises Adeline’s self-esteem, while the long stretches of time when Adeline is ignored by her father has the opposite effect.
Adeline is constantly insulted by Niang and even told,
‘you are nothing without your father’ (page 130).
Themes
The themes of a story are
Family and relationships Abandonment and loneliness also self esteem
Events that occur in the plot of a story may indicate its themes. In Chinese Cinderella, the main themes:
- family and relationships
- abandonment and loneliness
- self-esteem.
Family & relationships
Abandonment & loneliness
Self-esteem
Example:
Adeline is unhappy with her family life, but does not tell anyone out of embarrassment.
‘They didn’t know that, in front of them, I was desperate to keep up the pretence that I came from a normal, loving family.’ (page 63)
Example:
Adeline wonders what her fate will be when she is punished for her friends visiting her. She is constantly afraid of being made an orphan.
‘What’s going to happen to me? Will I be sold?’ (page 131)
Example:
Adeline is constantly reminded that the treatment of her and her siblings is her fault (despite that not really being true).
‘If you had not been born, mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.’ (page 3)
‘’Family ugliness should never be revealed in public since you’re not happy here
You must go somewhere else’’
(page 130)
“Except for me, everyone was striding along purposefully, going somewhere. Everyone had a destination. I must have walked for miles and miles But where was I?”
(page 31)
“My paper remained blank as I thought desperately , do I have any redeeming features?”
(page 215)
Linking quotations to themes
The main themes of the story, Chinese Cinderella, are:
- Family and relationships
- Abandonment and loneliness
- Self-esteem
Quote
How quote relates to theme(s)
‘If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.’ (page 3)
This quote relates to the theme of self-esteem.
The reader feels very sorry for Adeline and it is easy to see why she does not feel good about herself and carries guilt if she is constantly spoken to in this way?
‘Continue studying hard and bringing honour to the Yen family name so we can be proud of you.’ (page 11)
This quote relates to the theme of family and relationships .this gives the audience hope in that Adeline will keep studying and not be dragged down by her family
‘Unlike my siblings, no-one looked down on me.’ (Refers to people at school) (page 14)
This quote relates to family and relationships
This lets the audience know how adeline feels about her family and she feels like no one in her family cares about her well being
‘I was winning the medal every week and wearing it constantly… it was the only way to make father take notice and be proud of me.’ (page 16)
This quote relates to family and relationships this lets us know that Adeline strives to get her father’s praise
‘To her we are not separate people. Over here, we have become one single unit known as all of you’. (page 28)
This quote relates to family and relationships
And how naing doesn’t care about the 5 step children and only care about her children
‘One by one they were greeted and led away by anxious mothers. Nobody came for me.’ (page 30)
This quote relates to Abandonment and loneliness also how Adeline felt that everyone forgot about her like she was invisible and no one could see her to care about her
‘We merely want you to acknowledge your errors in the past… We’ll only give you the tram fares if you are truly contrite.’ (page 45)
This quote relates to self-esteem because of the things she has done in the past it lets the audience know that she does get punished .
‘In no time at all big sister went over to the other side. I knew Niang loathed me and despised my aunt.’ (page 59)
This quote relates to Abandonment and loneliness and family and relationships and how Adeline felt like big sister didn’t care about her and just wanted to take advantage of everyone so that she can get her way