Jocelyn.+Valerie

TEAM VALERIE & JOCELYN.

Fusako: Her dominant /successful role in not only the household, but the society (business) as well

1. Swan swimming: Elegance, Strength (swimming), Beauty.

2. Red Wine pouring into the cup: Control, Success, Business.

3. Woman in white suit striding confidently: Westernization, confident, upper-class (success), Authority.

4. Perfume: Lingering Scent, Femininity, Presence

5. Diamond: Perfect, Beautiful, Strong & Shiny, Rare.

6. Clock:

7. Eagle: Powerful (top of the food chain), Dominating, Predator, Sharp,


 * Justifications: **

**Theme:** Fusako Kuroda's dominance in her business and in her household.

**Speaker:** The speaker is in third person, which allows for more straight forward descriptions of Fusako.

**Tone:** The tone is relatively calm throughout the first 5 stanzas. However, as the poem progresses "towards" the household aspects (last four stanzas), the tone becomes more intense due to words such as "commanding" and "ordering".

**Structure**: There are a total of eight stanzas in the poem, with three lines in each stanza. The first line of each stanza in consistent throughout the entire poem ("verb" with "noun"). The second and third lines provide evidence for the first, both in direct quotations and our own words. The first four stanzas of the poem revolves around Fusako's business while the last four stanzas of the poem revolves around her household. This can be interpreted as the way her life was (she was dominant, business and family was all she had), before meeting Ryugi (also after meeting Ryugi, her dominance began to diminish).

Text References: - “Noboru’s mother closed his bedroom door and locked it.” (P3) - “Since her husband’s death, Fusako had been running the business by herself” (P24) - “Fusako employed an elderly manager and four salesgirls.” (P24) - “… often, Fusako was able tot place a bid before outher buyers had seen the shipment” (P25) - “Fusako teased the ashtray with her cigarette and then snuffed it out” (P26) - “… was greeted with the usual morning cordiality” (P26) - “As a mistress of a respectable shore household, she wanted to protest being forced into a pattern of life …” (P74) - “Seeing Fusako here in her white suit …” (P76) - “Fusako was needed at Rex” (P107)

POEM