...Like Adeline Yen Mah once said, “ Transcend your abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity, and compassion.” This quote is powerful in many ways and levels, and has helped many people overcome various forms abuse. Adeline Yen Mah was abused, and this quote sums up how she overcame the physical pain, and mental depression that her family caused. The story Chinese Cinderella is depressing in many ways but the first factor of depression is that she is verbally and physically abused. Adelaine describes this by saying “I realized that Niangs blows must have caused a nosebleed and that my face was probably smeared with a mixture of blood, mucus, and tears” (Yen Mah pg.115). Throughout the course of the story Niang and Father physically punish Adelaine. They hit, punch, slap, push, beat, lash, kick, and starve her, as well as other harming behaviors. Not only did her parents abuse her but so did her siblings. Another quote from the book is “Then I heard her words, loaded with malice, which made my heart jump and the hair stand up on the back of my neck. “Get out!” she snarled in a cold, distinctive voice. “ I shall never forgive you! Never! Never! Never! You’d better watch out from now on! You will pay for your arrogance!”’ (Yen Mah 35) . The story documents 10 years of her life and...
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..."Believe you can and you will." This quote applies to both Adeline Yen Mah and the fictional warrior Mulan. While Mulan is a fierce, headstrong warrior, Adeline is a gentle and patient schoolgirl, they both had to overcome adversaries to follow their dreams. They also both had the same persistent determination which helped them both in their lives. Finally, Adeline, the author of Chinese Cinderella was like Mulan because they both fought wars, metaphorical and literal, and we're very courageous. One of Adeline's internal wars is that she has to deal with her lowering confidence and depression. "Everyone bare and sorrowful, just like me," (128). Adeline gets very depressed when she gets taken is away from her friends and loved ones to go to boarding schools. If Adeline was happy throughout the story, it would affect the book greatly. When she and her friends were playing a game where they put their best attribute on a piece of paper, Adeline put “nothing.” Then, she proceeded to tell her friends “Everything [about me] is ugly. I loathe myself!” (188). This part in the story shows just how low Adeline’s confidence is....
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...“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted are the greatest poverty.”- Mother Teresa. In Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, Mother Teresa’s words of wisdom apply to Adeline's life because throughout the book, Adeline feels isolated and unwanted, and Adeline always says how much she wishes to feel wanted. She feels lonely, undesired, but more lonely at home than at school. Mother Teresa’s words of wisdom about being lonely apply to Adeline’s life because feeling lonesome is something that Adeline is very familiar with. She is lonely when the girls at school leave, when Niang treats her like an outcast, when her siblings gang up on her, and countless other times. For example, in the book, Adeline knows she must not tell anyone how Father...
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...The book “Chinese Cinderella” by Adeline Yen Mah is a heart touching true story about an unwanted girl named Adeline, who longed for the compassion and love of her parent’s. While giving birth to Adeline, her mother passed away from child birth complications, leaving her father with five children to care for, including a new born. Four years later, her grandmother Nai Nai also passed away leaving her father no choice but to remarry. Soon after, her father met and fell deeply in love with a woman named Niang, who becomes Adeline’s new stepmother. Adeline’s father and Niang had two children of their own, a boy and a girl, as well as Adeline and her three older brothers and older sister. A year later, Adeline’s family moved to Shanghai along with her Grandfather YeYe and her Aunt Baba. As Adeline grew older, she began to notice that her stepmother treated her and her full brothers and sisters differently than her stepmother treated her own kids, leaving Adeline to feel unwanted and unloved. A few examples of this favoritism include their living arrangements, the food they ate, and fashion trends. In Shainghai, the family lived in a three level apartment, Niang, her husband, their son and daughter lived on the first floor, while Adeline, YeYe, and Baba, and the other children lived on a separate floor. During this time Adeline and her full siblings were only allowed to eat three tasteless meals a day with congee and preserved vegetables every morning. Whereas her half siblings...
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...The fantasy literature of Cinderella was introduced by many cultures and every culture seems to have its own version. Cinderella stories date back as early as 850 A. D. with the first written version of Chinese tale yeh-shen (Cinderella: A cross-cultural story by Patricia w. Kite) Even though Cinderella is a fantasy story it shows many meaning to the character that portrays Cinderella. In many cultures there are stories of Cinderella where every girl dreams of having a Prince charming. The story of Cinderella is a fairy tale that is told and read to children of very young ages (ALA American Library Association) Research shows that many versions have been found first in Europe and the story tale origins appear to date back to a Chinese story from the ninth century. (ALA American Library Association) The book Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah is a story portrayed by a very young girl who mother died giving birth to her. Cinderella lived with her family who thought she was bad luck to them, therefore she was discriminated against and treated very bad. In the Chinese culture many Chinese people prefer sons then daughters. In many cultures children look for the love of their parents. The book emphasizes that quote “how you should do your best in the face of hopelessness; to have faith in the end your spirit will prevail; to transcend your abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity and compassion.” (by Adeline Yeh Man) ...
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...Introduction The book Chinese Cinderella is the tragic, moving autobiography of a young Chinese girl, Adeline Yen Mah. The book details her struggle for acceptance among her family, after they blamed her for the death of her mother during childbirth, as per Chinese culture. It follows Adeline through from the age of 4 in the French concession territory in the Tianjin province to her departure to England at the age of 13, starting in the year 1938 amidst the second Sino-Japanese War. It details her conflicts with the main antagonist of her life, her half Chinese, half French stepmother, Niang, as well as celebrates her success in her academics, which Adeline discovers will please her father. Throughout her many challenges, we see that Adeline’s...
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...Politically Correct Cinderella We all know the story about Cinderella who starts out by being simple farm girl. And of course we also know the evil stepmother and stepsisters, and the fairy good mother. We also know about the ending where Cinderella gets the beautiful prince and they lived happily ever after. There is also another version of the story. Politically Correct Cinderella is the funnier and modern parody of the Traditional Cinderella story. Politically Correct Cinderella written by James Finn Garner in 1981. In this essay I’m going to analyze the Politically Correct Cinderella story, and then compare it to the traditional Cinderella story, and finally end it by relating to the concept of “political correctness”. The Politically Correct Cinderella has the main plot as the traditional Cinderella Story. It’s about Cinderella whose birthmother had died when Cinderella was just a child, and then her father married the evil stepmother, with the evil stepsisters. But this story is written in a different way. An example could be the language: when he writes woman he write it like this: “wommon or womyn” – in this case I believe it is to keep it more correctly. It is also to see it from a feminist point of view, which change the way we perceive the story. The fairy good person is a man here, which makes it a lot weirder for us, because the fairy good mother was one of the central characters in the story we became familiar with. Just as we are used to the fairy good person...
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...Jonathan Sadie Homeira Foth ENGL 7 May 9th 2013 Disney’s “Sterilization” aka “Poison Candy” What would you say if Disney had something to do with you falling in love with your spouse? What about if Disney had something to do with all the relationships your have today? Most people would think this idea is absurd, yet it isn’t too far from the truth. We all grew up on Disney movies which poses the idea that these movies are a form of mass communication. The stories that where imprinted in our minds when our mind was more like sponges than an independent activist. Just like bed time stories that unleash children’s imagination before a night’s sleep will these same stories unleash a preconceived notion of action in real life. To have a favorite Disney movie is like having a favorite experience imbedded into our subconscious to tell us things such as what is “handsome” or “pretty”. Without noticing, many standards of today are set as we watch our first movie. So the big question is if Disney’s altered perspective of life is helping us live it. The proliferation of educational data that has been created regarding these seemingly innocent cartoon films provide a unique perspective that will influence what films we choose to show to our children. Disney’s sterilization process creates negative effects on children by painting an unrealistic picture, creating dependency issues, inhibiting a good coping system, and lacking confidence in the young. Disney’s interpretation of real...
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...The Grimm brothers are well-known story-tellers. Most of those who have seen the classic Disney movies like Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs have experienced an innocent version of the gruesome and dark tales that are the Grimm fairy-tales. In the beginning of their journey, the brothers had no intention of becoming story-tellers. The article “Grimms' Fairy Tales” states that the brothers found that the best way to allow someone to share the sounds of their dialect was to share the stories that had been passed down to them; the brothers kept a record of the stories they heard and had a book published in 1812 called Kinder und Hausmarchen, which translates to “Tales of Children and the Home”. Fairy tales during the brothers' time didn't have the same purpose as the ones today do. Bayer explains that during the Grimms' time, fairy tales were told to teach lessons and to pass on cultural values and wisdom to younger generations, not to entertain them. Because the purpose of these tales wasn't to entertain, the story-tellers weren't concerned about frightening their younger audiences (“Grimms' Fairy Tales”). Norton states that the tales were told around the fire to children and adults alike. Norton also tells us that, because these stories were dark and provocative, society decided that the nature of the tales had to change. Society had to protect their children from the gruesome nature of the Grimm fairy tales. Society may take the bulk of the blame for the changing...
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...Cinderella Play Script Characters: Narrator, Cinderella, Stepsister 1, Stepsister 2, Fairy godmother, Guest 1, Guest 2, Prince Scene 1 (at Cinderella’s home) Narrator: Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl named Cinderella. She had two ugly stepsisters who were very cruel to her. Stepsister 1: Did you clean the kitchen? Cinderella: Yes, I did. Stepsister 2: Did you polish my shoes? Cinderella: Yes, I did. Stepsister 1: Did you iron my clothes? Cinderella: Yes, I did. Stepsister 2: And...did you make breakfast? Cinderella: Yes, breakfast is ready. Narrator: The evil stepsisters made Cinderella do all the hard work. Cinderella: (calling out) Stepsisters! A letter from the royal palace has arrived for you. Stepsister 1: (fighting) Give it to me! I want to open it. Stepsister 2: (fighting) No! I want to open it. Stepsister 1 & 2: (looking at the invitation card) Look! We are invited to the Prince’s ball at the royal palace. Cinderella: (crying sadly) I wish I could go, too. Narrator: The night of the ball arrived. Stepsister 1: (laughing) Ha, ha! We are going to have a great time at the ball. Stepsister 2: (laughing) Have a great night working, Cinderella. Narrator: After the evil stepsisters had left, suddenly, a fairy appeared. Cinderella: Oh my! Who are you? Fairy godmother: I’m your fairy godmother, beautiful Cinderella. I am here to help you go to the ball tonight. Narrator: The fairy godmother waved her magic wand. Cinderella’s...
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...thinking about the research topic, the one thing pulled my attention was why there are villains in almost all fairy tales. It is very interesting to think that all fairy tales have villains. In this paper I am going to talk about who the villains in the story are, why authors talk about villains in their stories and what readers learn from them. I will use mostly about fairy tale villains such as my favorite fairy tale’s villain, Cinderella’s stepmother. When we read the stories, we can tell who the villain in the story is. They are usually described as stepmothers, witches, monsters, sneak, thief, robber and traits. For example, in the Cinderella story, Lady Tremaine is a villain. In the article “Top 10 Most Evil Disney villains”(Antonia) the author described the Lady Tremaine as self centered and wicked person. She physiologically abuses Cinderella. When I see the characters I listed above, they all are wicked. It is easy to see that some stepmother usually abuses their children. A student wrote on her term paper about step mother as “Sadly, the term stepmother is almost unheard of unless the word "wicked" is attached to the front of it. To become a stepmother one must first...
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...Good Triumphs Evil: Cinderella Cinderella, as told by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in Household Tales, is a tale most of us are familiar with. Most know the version of the tale as told in the Disney classic animated film. However, when told by the Grimm brothers it is a bit more elaborate and quite unlike the Disney version. Yet it is a tale I can relate to, as I’m sure many others can as well. I find the moral of the story the authors were trying to get across is that good will triumph evil, even in what seems to be the most impossible of situations. It all began with Cinderella suffering the death of her mother, who was quickly replace by an evil stepmother and her two daughters. They tell her cruel things and force her to do the household cleaning as “He who wants to eat bread must earn it; out with the kitchen-wench.” With that one sentence they have explicitly made it clear they feel she is beneath them and if she wants to eat she will earn her keep and meals. They take all of her possessions and give her, mock her, and even taunt her. She is forced to work in kitchen from the morning to nighttime, force her to sleep in the ashes by the fireplace. She has been reduced to nothing. She has nothing and is made to feel as though she is nothing, even to her father. The ways I can relate to her aren’t the exact same circumstances, but similar nonetheless. At one point I was in a relationship that was very abusive. I was to do all the cooking, all the cleaning, and under no circumstance...
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...themes the film Cinderella (1950) portrays is how the “Dreams come true.” However, when I watched Cinderella (1950) again, my attention was brought to this one scene of Cinderella at the grand ball (51:24-56:00). Disney put out a branched out theme of when the main character’s dreams come to face the reality. The scene starts with Cinderella dancing with her Prince Charming at the ball to a soft music that allows both sense of magic and elegance to step in. This diegetic music played by the orchestra at the ball goes well with Cinderella’s flowy dress as she smoothly slides across the fancy floor. In the music, the heavy bass played by Cello gives a palatial feeling. Also when the couple starts dancing, the spotlight is turned on them, which makes it seem like if Cinderella is dreaming which related to Disney’s theme “Dreams come true.” In the middle of the dance, some diegetic sound is added to the music when the scene switches over to the king and his doorman. In this quick shot, not only they have a quick dialogue but also a breaking noise of the doorman’s magnifying glasses. After dancing at the ball, Cinderella and Prince Charming gracefully dances out to the garden where they are by themselves. During the scene, the diegetic music played by the orchestra slows down as Cinderella starts humming. However, the music doesn’t end but puts an accent by using crescendo in the tune giving the feeling of hope and curiosity in what is going to happen next. As Cinderella sings about...
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...------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Part 1 - The Wedding Day I know I'm not the only one who wishes her wedding to be her best day ever. Since I was a kid I always dream that my wedding will be as beautiful like Cinderella's or Airel's. Imagining that I will have my own prince charming, my happily ever after But I woke up one day realizing that life isn't a fairytale. It doesn't goes to your plans, you can't have your prince charming and some-times it's not a happily ever after. I realized it when my parents business start dropping, when we start moving out of our own castle. I used to have my prince charming, I used to imagine my dream wedding day with him and my happily ever after with him But I was wrong, as I said life isn't a fairytale, I can't marry my prince charming. And my wedding day, isn't as beautiful like Cinderella's Because today's supposed to be my best day ever. Today it supposed to be the start of my happily ever...
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...For centuries, the fairy tale Cinderella, that everyone has come to know and love has been told in many different countries and in a variety of ways. Although each story is different, they all have similar meaning and each one "demonstrates how universal the Cinderella story is, as well as how unique each version is to the particular culture out which it grew" (Tam and Cam, 2012 Pg 194). Little girls all over the world are told some type of Cinderella story and they grow up dreaming that one day they'll be a princess just like the characters in the stories. They will find their prince charming to sweep them off their feet. However, these manipulative stories tend to teach girls that they do not need to be dependent on a man to take care of them. Girls should not grow up with that idea in their head, they should be told from the beginning that through patience and determination anything they set their mind to can happen without the reliance of anyone but themselves. The Cinderella characters are presented as civil and obedient young women. In "The Twelve Months", Marouckla, who was the "Cinderella like character" lost her father and was stuck living with her stepmother and step sister. She had to do all of the chores and wait on them hand and foot. They both treated Marouckla as a nuisance and whatever her stepmother asked, she did. "The stepmother also added her threats to those of Helen, and with vigorous blows they pushed Marouckla outside and shut the door upon her. The...
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