FALLING LEAVES 

January 03, 2023

“I was lonely and afraid. No one came from home.” (pg.112)

This quotes means that she is sad that none of her family has come to visit her while she was sick, she was also afraid that she was going to die and just being in the hospital was scary. This quote is taking place in the summer of 1951, Adeline was a student at Sacred Heart Boarding school and had just been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.  Adeline has learned that her family members are rude and truly don't love her , later on her family turns on her and she is reminded that they do not love her. This quote connects to me because I have been in a hospital, and I know how scary it is to be in one. I can also relate to the fear of dying, when my grandma was in the hospital we didn't  know if she was going to make it. This quote in today's society means the same as it did back then, if someone knew you could die and they didn’t come see you it usually means they don't care about you, or love you.

February 23, 2023

"I was winning the medal every week and wearing it constantly. I knew this displeased by siblings, especially Big Sister and Second Brother, but it was the only way to make Father take notice and be proud of me.” (pg.15)

This quote is saying that even though her brother and sister hate that she getting all the medals, and is the smartest, she has to wear them in order for her father to notice her and give her attention. The quote is taking place in the beginning of the book when Adeline was in primary school, her father was putting a lot of pressure on her to make good grades and be a perfect child. Adeline learned that no matter what her family thought about her, she would always have her smarts. I connect to this quote to my life because I get really good grades, and sometimes my brother get angry because he doesn't always make good grades. In today's society people who want to get into a really good school would benefit from this quote.

May 28, 2023

“But then Mama died giving birth to you. If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.” (pg.3)

This quote is saying that Adeline is the reason that her mother died and that if her mother never had her then her mother would have never died. Her sister said that she is bad luck because she killed her. This quote takes place in the very beginning of the book when Adeline asks about her mother, and her sister, Lydia told her she's the reason her mother is dead. I do not have a connection to this quote because my mother is not dead. In today's society this quote would not be common because people go to the hospital  to have children and if something goes wrong then doctors are there to help the child and the mother.

January 01, 2020

What's this “Everyone laughed, including Mother Marie. "And if you could have one wish granted, what would it be?"

"To receive a letter addressed to me. Just one letter. From anyone." (pg131)

This quote is describing how lonely Adeline is feeling, all she wants is someone to talk to her or visit her. Even though she wants to give up, she keeps on persevering. The quote is taking place while she's at Sacred Heart in Tianjin, her family was living in Hong Kong at the time. Her stepmother had forbidden anybody to write or see her. I can connect to this quote because growing up in a time where writing letters was uncommon, and I always thought it was so cool to receive a letter, but I never got one and it would make me so sad. In today’s society this quote would be beneficial to someone who has felt lonely in a time when they shouldn’t feel sad or lonely and this quote shows that if Adeline could get through this hard time anyone can.

January 01, 2020

“You may be right in believing that if you study hard, one day you might become fluent in English. But you will still look Chinese, and when people meet you, they’ll see a Chinese girl no matter how well you speak English. You’ll always be expected to know Chinese, and if you don’t, I’m afraid they will not respect you as much.”

Chinese Cinderella, p.151

This quote is saying that even though she may speak and study english very well, she's still chinese and she looks chinese. Ye-Ye doesn’t think that people will respect her, but despite that she preserves through it and goes to college in England. This quote takes place at the time when Adeline goes to college, she's just finished convincing her parents to let her go away to college. I can connect to this because even though i'm not chinese, i'm still a women and it's hard to earn respect from people. In today's society women are still not as respected as men are, but we now have laws that protect women from not being hired because they are women.