Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

PROJECT – BOOK REPORT

Title: _____________________________________________________________

Author: ___________________________________________________________

1. Main Characters – Who are the main characters in the story?

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2. Setting – Where and when does the story take place?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

3. Introduction – How does the story begin?

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4. Point of View - From what point of view is this story told? How would the story be
different if it were written from one of the other characters' point of view?

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5. Character - Describe the main character. Include his/ her personality traits.

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

6. Conflict - What is the major problem in the story?

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7. Climax - What is the turning point in the story?

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8. Falling Action - How is the problem finally solved?

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9. Resolution - How does the story end?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

10. What do you think are the themes of this story?

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11. What did you like best about this story?

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12. What did you like least about this story?

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13. Would you recommend this book to others to read? Why or why not?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 1 – MAKING PREDICTIONS

Study the front cover, the title and read the blurb on the back of the book.

What genre of book is this?

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What does the cover show?

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What clues does this give you about the story?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

Think about the title. What does it reveal about the book?

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What does the blurb tell you?

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When and where is the story set?

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What do you think the book is about?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 2 – FOCUS QUESTIONS – CH 1 & 2

Chapter 1

Describe the relationship between Aunt Baba and the narrator of the story,
Adeline

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What do you learn about Adeline’s real mother, her connection with Aunt Baba
and her early death?

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Gitanjali Vombatkere 7 TSRS Moulsari

Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

Chapter 2

Summarise your first impressions of Niang.

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Do you think that Tianjin was a pleasant place in which to live in Adeline’s early
years? Explain your answer.

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 3 – THE YEN FAMILY TREE – CH 2

After reading Chapter 2 complete the Yen Family Tree. Use their European names if you can find them.

Ye Ye

Baba Mama

Susan

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

Now that you have filled the family tree answer the following questions: -

1. What was the Chinese name that Adeline was given at birth? _______________________________________

2. Where is the surname written in a Chinese name? _______________________________________

3. What is the oldest daughter called at home? _______________________________________

4. What was Adeline called at home? _______________________________________

5. What did her younger brother and sister call her? _______________________________________

6. The older generation called Adeline Wu Mei.

What does this mean? _______________________________________

7. What is the Chinese term for ‘mother’ _______________________________________

8. Using the method of naming a child in a Chinese home,

work out what you would be called
(hint: what is your order of birth in your family) _______________________________________

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 4 – FOCUS QUESTIONS – CH 3 & 4

Chapter 3

What was Nai Nai’s opinion of the custom of foot binding?

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How did Adeline’s third and second brothers differ in their attitudes towards her?

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Describe the rivalry that existed between the various groups of Father’s children.

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

Chapter 4

Why was school a positive place for Adeline?

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What explanation can you provide for Father’s sudden disappearance?

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Write down the simile that Aunt Baba used to express how Nai Nai’s life had
ended. Explain what it means. Describe its effect on the reader.

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 5 – NIANG’S CHARACTER – CH 4

Much of the information the reader gains about Niang’s character and motivation
is gained indirectly through her actions and words, rather than from Adeline’s
explicit descriptions of her. The only explicit statement that Adeline gives about
Niang is very brief and comes at the end of her account.

In the following exercise, sentences that have indirect or implied information have
been listed. For each example, write down what characteristics of Niang are
implied for each extract.

Implied examples Implied characteristics

Niang was dressed in a dark brown Parisian silk dress, • stylish
with dangling pearl earrings and a string of large pearls • expensive taste
around her neck. • non-traditional
Surprised and hurt, Niang bent down to pick up her baby,
who was wriggling and resisting with all her might. An
unnatural hush fell upon the room.

“Keep still!” Niang screamed futilely, again and again, in a

piercing voice.

This proved simply too much for Niang. Thoroughly

exasperated, she gave a stinging slap across her baby’s
face.

Deliberately and viciously, Niang now set about beating

her daughter in earnest. Her blows landed indiscriminately
on Little Sister’s ears, cheeks, neck and head.

Niang glared at me. Her large, prominent eyes appeared

to be popping out of their orbits with fury. “How dare you!”
she hissed.
Fuming with rage, Niang slowly extended her right arm
and pointed her index finger at me.
“Get out!” she snarled in a cold, distinctive voice. “I shall
never forgive you! Never! Never! You’d better watch out
from now on! You will pay for your arrogance!”

Explicit example Explicit characteristics

In those few moments, we had understood everything.
Not only about Niang, but also about all the grown-ups.
Now that Nai Nai was dead, there was no doubt about
who was in charge.

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 6 – FOCUS QUESTIONS – CH 5, 6 & 7

Chapter 5

What does Niang’s description of the living quarters in the Shanghai house tell
you about her attitude towards her stepchildren?

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Chapter 6

Look again at the section where Adeline is left alone at the end of the school day.
Write down the words and phrases that show Adeline’s feelings at being
forgotten.

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What is revealed about Adeline’s memory and her father’s attitude to his parental
responsibilities in Chapter 6?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

Chapter 7

What does the incident with Niang and her baby tell us about her?

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Why was Adeline the only one who tried to stop Niang?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 7 – DIARY ENTRY – CH 6

Plan and write a diary entry on Adeline’s first day at her new school in the space
provided below.

Use the 5 senses to describe what she saw, heard, smelled, tasted and touched.

In addition, you could consider: -

o her new uniform
o her thoughts about going to school
o her feelings after school when she isn’t collected
o the walk through the markets
o her thoughts about telephoning home

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 8 – FACTUAL, DEDUCTIVE & HYPOTHETICAL

STATEMENTS – CH 7

Re-read Chapter 7, “Family Reunion” then complete the following questions. This
is an application of the Fact & Opinion module that we did in class.

FACTUAL STATEMENTS. Tick the statements that are true based on what
Adeline tells us in this chapter

1. Little Sister was six months old when she arrived with Ye Ye, Aunt Baba
and Third Brother in Shanghai on the last Sunday in October.
2. Adeline thought Little Sister’s accent was adorable.
3. Little Sister tipped all the candies in the bowl onto the carpet.
4. Aunt Baba warned Adeline just in time to keep quiet.

DEDUCTIVE STATEMENTS. Tick the statements that you can deduce are true
based on what you think the author meant

5. Little Sister’s older brothers and sisters were not interested in playing with
her.
6. Now that Grandmother Nai Nai was dead it was Niang who was in charge.
7. Niang’s pearls were more precious to her than her daughter.
8. During Little Sister’s beating the other children tried to pretend they were
invisible

HYPOTHETICAL STATEMENTS. Tick the statements you think Adeline would

agree with.

9. Abusing children either physically or verbally is wrong.

10. “Beauty is only skin deep”.
11. “Children should be seen but not heard”.
12. Fathers should not interfere in the discipline of their children.

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

For the statements that are false give evidence from the text to show that they
are not true.
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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 9 – FOCUS QUESTIONS – CH 8 & 9

Chapter 8

Was Adeline’s decision not to beg for the tram fare a wise one? Explain her
reasons for refusing to comply with Niang’s wishes

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Chapter 9

How did Niang ‘foil’ the children’s attempt to write an anonymous letter of
complaint about her to their father?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

In what way did Niang break up the unity of her stepchildren to gain control of
them?

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How does Adeline cope with her stepmother’s cruelty?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 10 – FOCUS QUESTIONS – CH 10 & 11

Chapter 10

Compare Wu Chun–Mei’s and Adeline’s fathers’ attitudes towards their

daughters

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What does Big Brother’s demand for a huge omelette breakfast say about his
feelings towards Niang’s strict rules? (Chapter 10)

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

What explanation does Third Brother give for getting on better with Adeline than
her other siblings?

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Chapter 11

What are your feelings towards the death of the duckling? Do you blame Father,
Third Brother or Jackie for its death? Explain your answer.

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 11 – FOCUS QUESTIONS – CH 12, 13 & 14

Chapter 12

Why did news of Big Sister’s arranged marriage fill Adeline with horror?

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Explain how the “jade pendant” incident drove a deeper wedge between Niang
and Aunt Baba.

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Chapter 13

Adeline’s actions in relation to Wu Chun-Mei’s birthday party were sneaky and

disobedient. Who do you blame for her behaviour? Explain

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

Chapter 14

List the things that Niang and her father accuses Adeline of when her friends
come to visit her at home (Chapter 14)

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What reasons do her parents give Adeline for sending her away to school?
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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 12 – FOCUS QUESTIONS – CH 15, 18 & 20

Chapter 15

Why was Adeline in danger from them the communists? Explain how she is
saved from them.

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Chapter 18

Explain how Adeline “saved face” in the egg incident at school..

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

What is it about King Lear that appeals to Adeline? What connections are there
to her own family?

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Chapter 20

In Chapter 20, What advice does Ye Ye give to Adeline?

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What advice would you give Adeline?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 13 – FOCUS QUESTIONS – CH 21 & 22

Chapter 21

How is Adeline finally able to convince her father to allow her to attend university?

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What was sad about the timing of Ye Ye’s death and Adeline’s competition win?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

Chapter 22

“Like Ye Xian, you have defied the odds and garnered triumph through your own
efforts.” (Chapter 22). To whom is Aunt Baba comparing Adeline and why?

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 14 – CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

Arrange the following events in chronological order. The first or earliest event
could be numbered ‘1’ and subsequent events from ‘2’ onwards. Indicate the
chapter and page number where the event is first described.

Statement Sequence Chapter &

Page Ref.
Adeline gets lost trying to find her way home after her first day
of school
One by one Adeline’s classmates flee the advancing
Communists in Tianjin, where she is sent to boarding school
as punishment
Ye Ye teaches Adeline about the ‘wisdom and magic’ of the
Chinese characters
Adeline wins a silver medal for topping her kindergarten class

Adeline wins the 1951-52 International Play-Writing

Competition
Adeline’s happy day visiting her friend Wu Cheun-Mei ends in
tragedy when she is caught by Niang and whipped by Father
Eleanor Lui gives Adeline her Sunday-morning egg, a
boarding school tradition showing someone at home loved
you because Adeline had never received one herself
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
Grandmother Nai Nai tells Adeline about the “horrible custom”
of foot-binding in China
PLT, Adeline’s ‘best friend in the whole world’ dies

Adeline, Big Sister, Big Brother and Second Brother join

Father, Niang and Fourth Brother in Shanghai
Adeline’s friends surprise her with a ‘Victory’ party in her
house after she is elected president of sixth grade and head
girl of Sheng Xin Primary School

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 15 – TRUE OR FALSE

After having read the whole book, determine which of the following statements
are TRUE and which are FALSE. Indicate the chapter and page number where
you can prove it.

Statement TRUE/ Chapter &

FALSE Page Ref.
Jun-ling is the name Adeline is known by outside her family.

The name of Adeline’s pet duckling is Jackie.

Ye Ye was a follower of the Hindu religion.

Grandmother Nai Nai had her feet bound according to an

ancient custom.
Third brother (James) was Adeline’s favourite brother

Writing stories helped Adeline to forget she was unwanted

and lonely
Informing the reader about China’s history and culture was
one reason Adeline Yen Mah wrote her story
Adeline’s classmates gave her the nickname ‘Genius’

The Communists lost the Civil War in China

Niang was half Chinese and half Italian

Adeline kept her family’s treatment of her a secret from her

school friends
Adeline always wore the latest, fashionable clothes

Aunt Baba loved Adeline very much and always believed in

her and made her feel special
Adeline dedicated the play she wrote for the international
competition to Ye Ye, because he believed in her
Father agreed to let Adeline study literature at university in
England

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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

WORKSHEET 16 – DIARY ENTRY

Imagine you are ONE of the characters in Adeline Yen Mah’s Chinese Cinderella. Select
THREE events in the novel and write a diary entry describing the THREE events from the point
of view of your chosen character. Choose your character carefully. You need to:

→ collect enough information to write about each event

→ describe your feelings (as the character you have chosen) and comment on your
relationship with the other characters in the story
→ include some quotes from the novel.
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Summer Reading CHINESE CINDERELLA – Adeline Yen Mah May 2024

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