Chinese Cinderella (Page 162-205)

Title: Chinese Cinderella
Author: Adeline Yen Mah
Page 162-205

Summary
At the age of 12 to 14, Adeline lived in a convent school in Hong Kong. For her entire 2 years of school, Adeline did not receive a visit and only received a letter from a playwriting competition. Adeline’s life at the school was depressing yet, she managed to be the TOP of her class. While other students had pretty western clothes, Adeline only had the necessary stuff to dress herself. Like a school uniform and a small brown dress for Sunday’s “visits”. Miserable, Adeline described her appearance, as well as staying in school even in holidays. Suddenly, one day; Adeline decided to apply for a playwriting competition. Adeline wrote a play about an Africa girl reflecting her own feeling about her life. Then, at the end of her final draft, Adeline dedicated the play to her grandfather. Many months passed, there was no reply. During her long anticipation of a response, her dear Ye Ye (grandfather) died. All hopes seem destroyed, no person to support the protagonist. The climax was Adeline’s future. After her graduation, will she go to college? Will she be forced to marry someone because of Niang? However, in an instant, a ray of hope appeared; it was the victory in the international writing competition. The narrator’s father became elated and proud of her. Finally, Adeline requested to study abroad with her siblings in England. The father agreed, but he decided a profession that Adeline did not had in mind. She gladly accepted and went to college. The dénouement was a letter from Aunt Baba; reminiscing an old folk tale called Cinderella. The last sentence of the memoir was nostalgic. The final sentence is “Your future is limitless, and I shall always be proud of you, my Chinese Cinderella” (Mah 197). (Like the ending!!!)

Quote
“I knew I looked ghastly with my dirty school uniform, scuffed and smudgy tennis shoes, straight, unpermed hair, bitten fingernails and swollen eyes from crying. Standing beside her made me feel especially worthless, plain and small” (Mah 187).

Reaction
Adeline Yen Mah has a lot of humor, suspense, drama, and even misery. From every page, the reader gets intrigue until the end. There is a lot of imagery and the narration is excellent. From page 162 to 205, there are countless events to wrap up the story. The climax is whether Adeline would attend college or end up the same as Big Sister. The resolution is the father’s acceptance of her daughter going to college as well as winning the playwriting competition. Most readers agree the dénouement concludes exceptionally. It was the perfect ending of the whole plot in Chinese Cinderella. In order to support the statement of Mah’s great use of imagery and extraordinary narration, the quote below is evidence. The narrator is the 14 years old Adeline. Being described after her Ye Ye’s funeral in a limousine with her family; Adeline was sitting next to her stepmother (Niang). The quote expresses the thoughts of Adeline comparing herself with Niang.

*I rate this book a 4.8 out of 5!!! (^.^)/