Chinese Cinderella notes

Chinese Cinderella

Written in present tense and first person

First Paragraph:

"in my case perhaps the end of school forever."
- short introductory paragraph to entice the reader
- ambiguous sentence at the end to hook the reader; to leave the reader wondering why she would not be going back to school

Second Paragraph:

"like a persistent toothache"
- use of simile compares the thought of leaving to school to an annoying and nagging pain to emphasise how much she hates the idea of leaving school and that the idea won't go away

"'Adeline'" 
- use of direct speech to give the reader the feeling as if the events are unfolding right now

"Full of foreboding, I ran downstairs as in a nightmare, wondering who had died this time."
- description of her emotions is placed at the start of the sentence so that the emphasis on her anticipation that something bad will happen is stronger
- Alliteration of 'f' sounds is striking and draws attention to the phrase
- sentence is broken up by commas, illustrating the movement of her running down the stairs and also the racing of her thoughts in her mind

"Then why are you taking me home?"
- use of lots of questions which emphasise her insecurity and her wariness of the situation

"Summoned by Father to enter the Holy of Holies"
- the word "summoned" has connotations of formality and implies that her father is very powerful
- the 'F' in "Father" is capitalised indicating that he is very authoritative and she respects him and is even intimidated buy him
- the phrase "Holy of Holies" emphasises how important her father is and that she sees him as God-like. It also shows that his office is a room that she rarely enters, if ever and she sees it as very special.


"Timidly, I knocked on the door."
- use of the adverb placed first in the sentence put emphasis on her feelings.
-use of the word "timidly" creates contrast between her and her father and also shows her resistance to enter the room

"Dare I let my guard down?"
- use of rhetorical question to express her thoughts and to add impact
- shows distrust of her father

"'Sit down! Sit down!'"
- use of imperatives to show authority
- repetition to show her father's impatience
- use of exclamation marks to convey authority and volume of his voice

"Is it possible? Am I dreaming? Me, the winner?"
- triplet of questions to emphasise her feelings and disbelief
- use of questions to convey her insecurity


"My whole being vibrated with all the joy in the world"
- her emotions are described as a physical sensation to emphasise the feeling
- use of a hyperbole to emphasise how happy she feels

"like entering heaven"
- reference to religion like "Holy of Holies"
- dramatic simile to emphasise how foreign England is to her and also how amazing it will be