 Hello and welcome to a summary on all you need to know about Adeline Yen Ma's extract, Chinese Cinderella. Now I'll read and explain this extract in depth and the version that I'll be reading is what appears in the Pearson-Edexcel International GCSE anthology. Now do remember that this was taken from a larger novel which is an autobiographical account of Adeline Ma's own life. So what I'll do is I will read through the passage and explain the meanings related to the text as well as language devices that you need to be aware of and other contextual factors that you will find helpful as you study this text. So let's get started. Now as I mentioned, this passage is based on an autobiographical account that Adeline Yen Ma herself wrote about it. So this passage is based on that. Now do remember that she grew up contextually in a wealthy family in the 1950s Hong Kong and she would have otherwise had a really enviable childhood, however she was rejected by her family. Now remember the reason for her rejection is because Adeline Yen Ma's own mother actually died after giving birth to her which was seen as bad luck by her family. Now her father remarried and the woman that he married, the stepmother, as well as her father really mistreated her. They were quite dominating and they all really despised her because they saw her as a sign of bad luck and so she was sent to boarding school and left there. So this extract taken from our autobiography relates one of the few occasions when she went home and of course you're going to see how she was treated quite coldly. So what I'll do is I'm going to read through different parts of the passage and then explain interesting linguistic techniques. Time went by relentlessly and it was Saturday again. Eight weeks more and it would be the end of term. In my case perhaps, the end of school forever. Four of us were playing Monopoly. My heart was not in it and I was losing steadily. Outside it was hot and there was a warm wind blowing. The radio warned of a possible typhoon the next day. It was my turn and I threw the dice. As I played, the thought of leaving school throbbed at the back of my mind like a persistent toothache. Adeline Ma Mien Valentino was calling. You can't go now, Mary protested. For once I'm winning. One, two, three, four. Good. You've landed on my property. Thirty-five dollars please. Oh, good afternoon Mother Valentino. We're all stood up and greeted her. Adeline, didn't you hear me call you? Hurry up downstairs. Your chauffeur is waiting to take you home. Full of foreboding, I ran downstairs as in a nightmare wondering who died this time. Father's chauffeur assured me everyone was healthy. Then why are you taking me home? I asked. How should I know? He answered defensively shrugging her shoulders. Your guess is as good as mine. They give the orders and I carry them out. Now what this opening does is it really sets a scene for us. We realize of course from very early on that she feels a lot of fear. She's quite fearful, quite anxious. And of course, as we read through the passage, we realize the reason for her anxiety. She's very excluded by her family and she's quite mistreated by them. Now she opens this part of the passage by stating time went by relentlessly and it was Saturday again. And what this compound sentence does is it slows down the pace of the extract. It shows just how dreary and how slow life is for her and how difficult it is. Furthermore, the adverb relentlessly shows that time actually isn't her friend. Time is something that's quite slow for her, quite laborious. And of course, we can assume it's because she's back home and it doesn't really feel like home for her, especially when she's back from boarding school because she probably gets really mistreated. And so this just feels like a very difficult time for her. Also, the term again emphasises the slow pace of life for her. She's not really enjoying her time home from school. So whilst most people who go to boarding school and they come home, they see time as really enjoyable. It's a respite from school. Actually for her, it's the other way around. School is a respite for her from her home life. Also, she talks about the end, the end and the repetition here shows her pessimism and her pessimism at school ending. Now, not only was it the end of term, but possibly the end of school. She might be taken out of school because she is scared that her family will see her as not even good enough for higher education. Also, the hyperbole forever shows that she's really sad school is over. Perhaps school was a real escape for her. Boarding school was a place where she was treated better and she's really, really sad that this is all possibly going to be over. She then tells us that four of us were playing Monopoly. And this simple sentence just shows that she was engaging in a game, but probably she was meant to lose this game and she really, her heart wasn't into it. And of course, we learned that later when she tells us that she really wasn't paying attention to it and she was losing. Furthermore, the alliteration was a warm wind blowing really tells us and gives us a sense of the warmth. Of course, she lives in Hong Kong, which is a fairly warm island, which is next to China. It's a territory of China. So this gives us an idea of the atmosphere. We then get the idea that there could be possibly a typhoon the next day. This is when there's a lot of wind and it becomes a very, very dangerous kind of typhoon. And this perhaps could be symbolism of how she feels internally. So maybe once she learns that she might be taken out of school, she will also feel the same kind of sadness, but also the same kind of turmoil internally. Furthermore, she mentions how school, given that she might be taken out, this thought was like a persistent toothache in her mind. This shows that she feels persistently anxious and fearful of being taken out of school at any moment. Furthermore, the exclamatory sentence Adeline, this direct speech now shows us the voice of her stepmother. We get the sense that her stepmother is quite harsh, very brutal. When she speaks to her, she speaks to her perhaps like someone who is not really worth any kind of emotion. She's not someone that's worth being pampered or treated kindly. Furthermore, Mary, presumably the stepmother's daughter, states for once I'm winning. And this highlights to us just how competitive the home environment is. And this probably must be quite exhausting for her. When you go home, you're treated, not only are you treated very miserably, but also you constantly have to compete for your parents' love. Furthermore, the possessive pronoun, which quotes what her sister or rather her half-sister says, my property shows again that she is, Adeline Ma is really excluded and her siblings, the ones who are probably treated better, that always emphasise in her face just how she's different to them. They own things that she might not own. And of course, this is still tied just to Monopoly, but actually probably the game reflects how she's treated also in real life. She then mentions how we all stood up and greeted her. Now, what this shows is that all the children, including the children of the stepmother, they're quite respectful, but also fairly fearful and emotionally detached as a sense that maybe the home is run somewhat like in a militaristic style. Furthermore, the stepmother speaks quite curtly, quite harshly to Adeline. Hurry up downstairs, and this imperative sentence shows the harsh tone that her stepmother addresses her in. Moreover, Adeline Ma tells us that she felt full of foreboding and this alliteration shows that she's fearful and she's also used to getting punished, getting bad news, really just being treated quite negatively. Furthermore, when she mentions father rather than dad, this standard English shows how her relationship with her father is very formal, probably very emotionally detached. Moreover, she speaks to the chauffeur who also talks to her in a quite sarcastic way. The rhetorical question, how should I know, shows that she, Adeline, is always kept in the dark, not only by her immediate family, but even by the servants. Everybody is perhaps trained to treat her as an outsider and to exclude her because as I mentioned, do you remember contextually that Adeline's mother died after giving birth to her and at the time it was seen that that meant that she brought bad luck. So maybe even the servants were trained not to treat her kindly. Also, it's really interesting that the chauffeur says they give me orders referring both to the father and mother or rather stepmother and I carry them out. And of course, the contrast in these pronouns, they, which is third person pronoun versus I to refer to the chauffeur himself, first person pronoun, shows the vast social divide that exists between the workers and of course, the really wealthy family that Adeline comes from. So let's carry on. During the short drive home, my heart was full of dread and I wondered what I had done wrong. Our car stopped at an elegant villa at mid-level, halfway up the hill between the peak and the harbour. Where are we? I asked foolishly. Don't you know anything? The chauffeur replied rudely. This is your new home. Your parents moved here a few months ago. I had forgotten, I said as I got out. Our gum opened the door. Inside, it was quiet and cool. Where's everyone? Your mother is out playing bridge. Your two brothers and little sister son bathing by the swimming pool. Your father is in his room and wants to see you as soon as you get home. See me in his room? I was overwhelmed by the thought that I had been summoned by father to enter the Holy of Holies, a place to which I had never been invited. Why? Timidly, I knocked on the door. Father was alone, looking relaxed in his slippers and bathrobe, reading a newspaper. He smiled as I entered and I saw he was in a happy mood. I breathed a small sigh of relief at first, but became uneasy again when I wondered why he was being so nice, thinking, is this a giant ruse on his part to trick me? Dare I let my guard down? Now here, essentially, we find that she was in a different house. Of course, this is highlighting just how much wealth her family had. And now she's been taken to what appears to be the main house. Again, we now find that there's this exclusion. And do remember that contextually, Adeline, her mother also had other children. And so she's the fifth of five children. And of course, the mother died when she was given birth to her. So perhaps maybe the other house is where the children of the first wife are being kept. And maybe this house, the main house, is where the children of the stepmother reside, in addition to the father and the stepmother. Now she mentions during the short drive home, my heart was full of dread and I wondered what I had done wrong. Now, this complex sentence shows just how isolated and alone she feels. Her only interaction with her father is negative, much like her interaction with everyone else that's around her. It must be such a difficult feeling to live with daily. Also, the pre-modifier, elegant, to describe the villa, highlights her family's wealth and opulence. And so it's interesting because whilst she lives this opulent lifestyle, she is still excluded from it. She's still mistreated and she doesn't really have this enviable lifestyle that outsiders might assume is quite enjoyable. Also, the adverb foolishly shows that in many ways, Adeline has internalized feeling really silly and very stupid. She doesn't really know anything. She's been kept in the dark. Nobody has informed her of why she's having this journey. However, she doesn't see it that way. She has internalized being constantly told that she's very foolish, very stupid. And also it's interesting that the chauffeur also reinforces this by saying, don't you know anything? He replies rudely. So everybody around her treats her as if she's stupid. So she's internalized this. And the chauffeur answers, this is your new home. And so it's really interesting. These monosyllabic words show that she's excluded even from family decisions. She doesn't even know where her dad lives, right? So this is the first time that she's seen where he lives. Now, the chauffeur tells her about what all her half sisters and brothers are doing. Of course, again, she's excluded from this. Now, the semantic field of family here, your mother, your brothers, little sister, father, this semantic field of family shows that she's excluded or a black sheep. And black sheep is just a metaphor to describe somebody who's an outsider within a group. And of course here we can see that she really is an outsider. Whilst all her family members are together interacting, especially the family members that are part of the stepmother's side of the family, she's totally excluded and she's kept in the dark. Furthermore, the adverb timidly shows the emotional distance that she fills with her father. So she feels really timid and really terrified when she's about to interact with him. And she goes to his place and especially his room, which is described as a holy of holies. And she doesn't feel accustomed to being close to him, so that's why she's so scared. Also, she says that she breathes a small sigh of relief and the sibilance here shows that internally she feels really, really happy that she's not being punished once more. And again, of course, we know that her father seems really happy but she doesn't quite know why. But again, she can't quite trust his actions because she feels like maybe this might be a ruse, this might be a trick on his part just to maybe mentally torture her. Furthermore, the rhetorical question, dare I let my guard down, shows that she constantly feels quite defensive and fearful around her family. She's never been accepted and she doesn't feel like her family sees her in many ways as a human being. So let's carry on. Sit down, sit down, he pointed to a chair. Don't look so scared. Here, take a look at this. The writing about someone we both know, I think. He handed me the day's newspaper in there in one corner, I saw my name. Adeline Yen. In capital letters, prominently displayed. It was announced today that a 14-year-old Hong Kong schoolgirl, Adeline Jun Ling Yen of Sacred Heart Canisarian School, Cane Road, Hong Kong, has won first prize in the International Playwriting Competition held in London, England for the 1951-1952 school year. This is the first time that any local Chinese student from Hong Kong has won such a prestigious event. Besides a medal, the prize comes with a cash reward of 50 English pounds. Our sincere congratulations, Adeline Yen, for bringing honour to Hong Kong. We are proud of you. Is it possible? Am I dreaming? Me, the winner. So here, Adeline obviously realises the reason why her father has summoned her is to actually congratulate her for winning an award and she herself can't quite believe it. Now, the series of imperative sentences here, when her father says, sit down, sit down, it shows really his power and his dominance. And again, it also shows kind of how unpredictable his treatment to water is. So she doesn't quite know where she stands ever with her father. Also, the capitalisation of her name and the repetition, so this is of course an euphoric reference, really emphasises that actually the spotlight is on her. Furthermore, the pre-modified 14-year-old Hong Kong give us more information about Adeline and the proper nouns Cane Road, Hong Kong reveal more about where she is based in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the proper nouns here to highlight London and England highlight the prestige that's associated with this particular award. Do remember that at this time, even if today Hong Kong is technically part of Chinese territory, at this time Hong Kong was classified as an English protectorate. And essentially the English were, they had a large presence, they're still due to some extent today. However, anything also tied to the English people and the English presence was seen as also quite prestigious. So in this instance, this prize and this competition is seen as very prestigious because it comes from a Western institution. This is specifically the UK. Furthermore, there is the semantic field of winning medal prize and this shows once more just how competitive their family dynamics are. Furthermore, the article says that Adeline has brought honour to Hong Kong and this alliteration shows culturally speaking, there's a very, very massive sense of pride that comes with really standing out. So not only is this competitive dynamic within her own family, but also I suppose within the city, we can argue that there's this idea of always competing, always trying to really outshine others. Also, she asks herself a series of rhetorical question. Is it possible? Am I dreaming? Me the winner. And this shows the self-doubt that Adeline has. She doesn't recognise her talent in writing. She doesn't really know that she is really good at what she does. Of course, this comes from the fact that her own family constantly puts her down, even the servants in her family constantly put her down. So let's carry on. I was going up the lift this morning with my friend, CY Took, when he showed me this article and asked me, is the winner Adeline Jun Leng Nian related to you? The two of you have the same uncommon last name. Now, CY himself has a few children about your age, but so far none of them has won an international literary prize as far as I know. So I was quite pleased to tell him that you are my daughter. Well done. He looked radiant. For once, he was proud of me. In front of his revered colleague, CY Toon, a prominent fellow businessman also from Shanghai, I had given him face. I thought, is this a big moment I'd been waiting for? My whole being vibrated with all the joy in the world, I only had to stretch out my hand to reach the stars. Tell me, how did you do it? He continued, how come you won? Well, the rules and regulations were so very complicated, one has really to be dedicated, just to understand what they want. Perhaps I was the only one determined enough to enter, and there were no other competitors. He laughed approvingly. I doubt it very much, but that's a good answer. Please father, I asked boldly, thinking it was now or never. May I go to university in England too, just like my brothers? Now here, of course, the relationship between her and her father is really emphasised. It's almost non-existent. It's very formal. It's very much based on his negative view of her. So he probably sees her as a cursed child. She doesn't have any talent. And now we start to see that she herself has realised she doesn't have any talent, but for some reason she decided to just submit her writing to this competition and won. And also herself doesn't quite believe that she's won. Now her father mentions that it's his friend who also is very accomplished, that showed it to him and he has children and he highlights none of them has won. And what this shows is the father is very competitive. He's focused only on gaining prestige and looking really good in front of his other successful colleagues and friends, and of course in this case is C. Y. Tung, who's also a really successful businessman. So the father is really seeing Adeline as only useful in so far as looking good, because now she's won a prize and out shined his own children from the competitor. Also to modify international, again, highlights the prestige attached to winning a Western style prize. Moreover, the exclamatory sentence, well done, this appears to probably be the only positive feedback that Adeline has gotten from her father and she's probably not used to it. She notes that he looked radiant and this shows her father's love is conditional on achievement. In other words, a lot of people always emphasise the importance of parents having unconditional love in their children. However, in this case, her father makes it really clear that the only reason why he now kind of acknowledges Adeline in a positive way is because she has achieved something. And probably that's why he has a very competitive family because he makes it clear to all his children that he'll only love them and look after them and care for them if they are achieving things. Moreover, the adjectives and pre-modifiers revered, prominent to highlight how he saw CYTING, the other businessman, the short how the father really focuses on external appearance. He only associates himself even with people who are revered and prominent. Moreover, Adeline says that I had given him face and this refers to something called face-saving, the idea of reputation, how you look externally to others. And this of course reveals that reputation is so very important to her father. Moreover, Adeline uses the metaphor, I only had to stretch out my hand to reach the stars so she realises that this is just a small sliver of a chance that she could use to really get her shot at getting further and higher education. So she feels like she maybe has a shot at getting a better life than she initially assumed. Now her father asks her how did you do it? How come you won? And the repetition of this second person pronoun shows that her father really didn't have any faith or belief in her. He just saw her as a cursed child. Moreover, the reliteration of rules and regulations when Adeline is explaining to her father why she won shows her very robotic way of seeing things. Now her father laughs approvingly and this shows how competitive he is and he even wants his children to interact with him in a really specific way and so given that she's responded in a very robotic way he's very pleased with that. Now when he mentions I doubt it very much, this shows that he doesn't really care for his daughter, expect much and he even clearly shows this to her. Now Adeline asks may I go to university and this modal verb which is extremely formal shows just how distant the relationship is. Moreover when she says like my brothers this shows that her brothers are benefiting from a western education, they're getting even higher education to university but she's treated differently. So of course if you remember at the beginning of the passage she was really scared about the end of her education it seemed quite likely maybe to her that she might not get any formal education beyond school so she's trying to see if she can claw her way back into her father's good books and get at least a university degree. So let's carry on. I do believe you have potential. Tell me what would you study? My heart gave a giant lurch as it dawned on me that he was agreeing to let me go. How marvellous it was to simply be alive. Study I thought going to England is like entering heaven. Does it matter what you do after you get to heaven? But father was expecting an answer. What about creative writing? After all I just won first prize in international writing competition. I plan to study literature. I'll be a writer. Writer he scoffed. You're going to starve. What language are you going to write in and who's going to read your writing? Though you may think you're an expert in both English and Chinese. Your Chinese is actually rather elementary. As for your English, don't you think the native English speakers write better than you? I waited in silence. I do not wish to contradict him. You will go to England with third brother this summer and you will go to medical school. After you graduate you will specialise in obstetrics. Women will always be having babies. Women patients prefer women doctors. You will learn to deliver their babies. That's a full proof profession for you. Don't you agree? Agree? Of course I agreed. Apparently he had it all planned out. As long as he let me go to university in England I would study anything he wished. How did that line go in Wordsworth's poem? Bliss was that in dawn to be alive. Father I shall go to medical school in England to become a doctor. Thank you very very much. Now in this part of the passage she actually learns that maybe her father will accept her going to get further education. And the declarative sentence shows that her father's opinion has changed after she has been celebrated by others. So he says I do believe you have potential. Now we learned that her heart gave a giant lurch so of course the personification of her heart shows that Adeline can't quite believe it. She feels almost like she's won the lottery that her father has actually agreed to send her to study not only to go to university but actually to study abroad in England. Furthermore that her internal dialogue study I thought shows that she just can't quite believe her luck. She initially probably thought that she would never even get the chance to go to university. But she now can't believe that no only will she go to university but also to England. Furthermore she highlights and emphasises just how much prestige there was in studying in England by saying that going to England is like entering heaven. And this similarly shows how highly she values a western education and especially a western education in somewhere like the UK which really had a lot of political control at the time over Hong Kong. Also the declarative sentence here when she says I'll be a writer actually foreshadows her future career as a very successful and award-winning writer but of course at the time she didn't quite think that she had that kind of talent. Her father of course scoffs at her dream and this verb is quite degrading it shows just how harsh he is towards her and then the exclamatory sentence in this hyperbole you're going to starve shows he has this stereotype of this starving artist in his mind. The job of being a writer or even being an artist in any regard as she lacks prestige people would respect her in her culture so her father really dismisses this talent and dismisses any idea of her going abroad to do any type of writing. Also the simple sentence here awaited in silence really emphasizes a powerlessness towards her father. She really doesn't have a say and hence why she's even silent. Also it's interesting that the father refers to third brother which is even capitalized and it shows that her father really runs the family like a business he has it all planned out everybody is going to be a doctor everybody has to be a nurse and once they come back to Hong Kong these are the jobs that they're going to get he runs the family like a business also he uses imperative sentences to tell her exactly how her future will look like he tells her you will go to medical school and he uses medical jargon to tell her specifically what she's going to specialize in and then of course the repetition of women shows his underlying sexism he has the idea of what jobs suit her as a woman and especially as a female doctor now Adeline says agree of course I agree and this is hyperphora hyperphora is when you ask a question and answer it directly after and of course it shows her internal dialogue and she's really happy to be going abroad also she says how did that line go in Wordsworth poem? bliss was that it was it in that dawn to be alive now again this is hyperphora she asks a question relating to Wordsworth poem and then answers it and of course this shows just how much love and avid interest she has in literature it never really leaves her furthermore the modal verb here again highlights the very robotic and emotionally distant response that she has when she's interacting with her father and then she responds by saying thank you very very much again the repetition of these intensifiers show that she's so grateful for him showing any kind of help and any kind of interest in her further education so that's all if you found this video useful please make sure you visit our website which is www.firstreadtutors.com where you'll find lots of study materials that will help you in this and indeed other parts of English thank you so much for listening