Read the excerpt from a personal essay. What is the purpose of the allusion to the story of Cinderella? As my principal, Mr. Howard, read the names of the scholarship recipients, I held my breath in anticipation. I wanted to hear my name called and the cheers from the audience. However, my name never passed through Mr. Howard's lips. When the last name was read, I felt numb. The hours that I spent writing the scholarship essay felt wasted. I finally had the sinking realization that I would never be Cinderella and that fairy godmothers do not exist. Without that scholarship, accomplishing my dreams would be incredibly difficult.

1. to emphasize how different the narrator's life is from a fairy tale
2. to show how the narrator admires the story of Cinderella
3. to highlight how the narrator enjoys reading fairy tales
4. to describe how similar the narrator is to Cinderella