Chinese Cinderella

Question 1

‘Chinese Cinderella’

Answer 1

• Allusion and foreshadowing
• Has connotations of neglect, foreshadowing her life

Question 2

‘Time went by relentlessly and it was a Saturday again’

Answer 2

• Adverb and personification of time
• Shows how she is anxious about going home and she does not want time to pass

Question 3

‘the end of term.. in my case perhaps the end of school forever’

Answer 3

• Repetition of ‘the end’
• Shows her pessimism due to her anxiety of going home away from school

Question 4

‘My heart was not in it’

Answer 4

• Metaphor
• Highlights her anxiety about going home

Question 5

‘The radio warned of a possible typhoon the next day’

Answer 5

• Objective Correlative
• Shows how she likens going home to a storm, highlighting her anxiety

Question 6

‘the thought of leaving school throbbed at the back of my mind like a persistent toothache’

Answer 6

• Similie
• Shows how leaving school is constantly in her head, further highlighting her anxiety

Question 7

‘“Hurry up downstairs!”’

Answer 7

• Imperative sentence
• Shows her low level of authority within the family

Question 8

‘Full of foreboding’

Answer 8

• Fricative alliteration
• Highlights her fear of going home

Question 8

‘“How should I know”’

Answer 8

• Itallicised
• Highlights her low position in the family as even the chauffer does not treat her with respect

Question 9

‘During the short drive home, my heart was full of dread and I wondered what I had done wrong’

Answer 9

• Complex sentence and metaphor
• Highlights how her only interaction with her father is negative which encapsulates their relationship

Question 10

‘“This is your new home”’

Answer 10

• Monosyllabic words
• Sentence shows how excluded she is from family affairs

Question 10

‘mother’, ‘two brothers’, ‘Little Sister’, ‘Father’

Answer 10

• Semantic field of familial words
• Shows that the rest of her family are included in family life as they are all home, further highlighting her exclusion from the family
• It also shows the lack of personal connections within the family, highlighting their value for bringing good reputation to the family rather than personal qualities

Question 11

‘Dare I let my guard down?’

Answer 11

• Rhetorical question
• Show how he is rarely ever nice to her and even when he appears happy she believes he is being deceitful

Question 11

‘Holy of Holies’

Answer 11

Shows how her father is godlike and should be worshipped, showing how much lower down she is, further showing her fear and his oppression

Question 12

‘Sit down! Sit down!’

Answer 12

• Repetition of imperative sentence
• Shows his power and opression

Question 13

‘Won’, ‘Medal’, ‘Prize’, ‘Cash Reward’

Answer 13

• Semantic field of winning
• Shows how to the family reputation is the most important thing

Question 14

‘Congratulations… for bringing honour to Hong Kong!’

Answer 14

Shows how reputation is the most important thing to the family, not the individuals who actually won the prize

Question 15

‘Is it possible? Am I dreaming? Me, the winner?

Answer 15

• Repetition of rhetorical questions (tricolon)
• Shows that she has been beaten down by her family so many times that she now questions the fact that she won something, further showing the neglect and her exclusion

Question 16

‘“I was quite pleased”’

Answer 16

Diminishes her achievement, shows he still wants to exert his authority and is not too proud of her

Question 17

‘I had given him face’

Answer 17

• Metaphor
• Shows how reputation is the most important thing, not her

Question 18

‘I only had to stretch out my hand and reach for the stars’

Answer 18

• Metaphor
• Symbolises her joy

Question 19

‘“Tell me, how did you do it?” he continued. “How come you won”’

Answer 19

• Itallics and repetition of interrogative sentences
• Shows how he still sees her as lowly because he does not believe she truly won due to her abilities

Question 20

‘My heart gave a giant lurch’

Answer 20

• Metaphor
• Shows her fear and how she is still scared of her father, but also her unadulterated excitement at the prospect of leaving her current life a she never believed she was worthy

Question 21

‘Does it matter what you do after you get to heaven?’

Answer 21

• Rhetorical question and metaphor
• Shows how she views England and how England is viewed in Hong Kong, as well as how she views the chance of a university education and the prospect of leaving her current life

Question 22

‘“I plan to study literature. I’ll be a writer”’

Answer 22

• Short sentences
• Shows her confidence after winning the prize

Question 23

‘“You’re going to starve!”’

Answer 23

• Hyperbole
• Shows how he still dismisses her writing skills even after she won the prize

Question 24

‘Agree? Of course I agree’

Answer 24

• Hypophora
• Shows how despite the fact that she is not studying what she wanted to study, she does not care because she still views England and going to university as ‘heaven’

Question 25

‘How did that line go in Wordsworth’s poem? Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive.’

Answer 25

• Hypophoric allusion
• Shows how she is still interested in literature but also further shows that she views going to study in England and having the chance of a university education as heavenly