I’ll Make a Man out of You by Donny Osmond

Toni Sargeant

Mrs. DeLuca

AP Literature IV B

23 August 2018

The song I chose was “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” by Donny Osmond from the Disney movie Mulan. The first verse begins, “Let's get down to business, to defeat the Huns. Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?” This is the first example of literary devices as this is ironic. The army specifically asked for son but Mulan, a daughter, was undercover as a son to protect her father. So they did in fact send him daughters. Then the famous line at the end of the verse, “Mister, I'll make a man out of you.” This is another example of irony for the same reasons. You can’t make a man out of a woman. “Tranquil as a forest but on fire within,” demonstrates a simile since it uses the word as to make a comparison. This is also an oxymoron since tranquility is usually seen as the opposite of tranquility since it is wild and dangerous. The line, “You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot,” displays alliteration of the “p” sound. A hyperbole is used in the line, “This guy's got 'em scared to death,” because it is obvious that they aren’t dying and that it is nearly impossible to scare someone to death. Imagery is exemplified in this line, “With all the force of a great typhoon.” It the sensory details of touch and sight, making it possible envision being whipped around by a huge typhoon unable to evade its force. There is personification in the line, “Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.” The moon can’t actually be mysterious because it doesn’t have a personality. There is also a metaphorical indication to darkness that actually seems to be referring to an evil or unknown personality of the moon. Another personification is, “Time is racing toward us till the Huns arrive.” Since time isn’t something that is alive, it can’t actually race towards someone. This song is full of figurative language and literary devices that add a deeper meaning and element to not only the message but to the movie as a whole.