Chinese Cinderella

Question 1

“The radio warned of a possible typhoon the next day… the thought of leaving school throbbed at the back of my mind like a persistent toothache”.

Answer 1

• The use of pathetic fallacy through the typhoon foreshadows there is an impending moment of chaos and turmoil, creating a feeling of anxiety for the reader at the beginning of the passage, making the reader feel as if something terrible is about to happen.
• The simile compares the idea of leaving school, which most students relish, to a constant aching pain such as a toothache. This suggests that the writer is experiencing chronic, low-level emotional pain and anxiety because what waits for her outside of school is so awful, creating tension and surprise in the reader as we do not know what she dreads and why.

Question 2

“I had been summoned by father to enter the holy of holies… Sit down! Sit down!”.

Answer 2

• The holy of holies is an allusion to the old religious texts and an inner sanctum where God dwelt with the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Ten Commandments, suggesting that the writers father is like the Old Testament God to her. In addition to this, her father’s study being full of rules and very frightening to her suggests the study is a sacred place, one which she is not allowed to enter normally.
• The repetition of imperative, exclamatory sentences conveys to the reader that the writers father is a bullying and commanding parent who treats her aggressively, making the reader feel sympathetic to her. This also juxtaposes the idea of a study being a sacred place, as God and Jesus were supposedly kindhearted and fostering, compared to the writers father who is negligent and tyrannical.

Question 3

“Is it possible? Am I dreaming? Me, the winner?… I only had to stretch out my hand to reach the starts… going to England is like entering heaven”.

Answer 3

• The short paragraph expresses how shocked the writer is to have won something. The short sentences and tripartite list bring it vividly to life, the fact that it is a triplet of three rhetorical questions underlines the writers confusion at having achieved something; she cannot believe that she could do well, again engaging the readers’ sympathies.
• The metaphorical imagery compares the writers delight at being praised by her father to touching something impossible and beautiful, conveying her joy. In addition to this, the reference to starts connotes to being outside her present confined circumstances, conveying to the reader how difficult it is to please her father.
• The simile and imagery compares the writers escape to England as entering paradise, a positive concept. This shows the reader how much the writer wants to escape her family, even if it was by going to medical school instead of her dream of becoming a writer; she would rather give up her dreams for the future than stay with her family any longer, highlighting the toxic relationship she has with them.