Ms. Amber Huntington

“Dress You Up” Contains: Assonance Extended Metaphor Personification “Vogue” Allusion Cliché Form: Quatrain

Assonance: “You’ve got style, that’s what all the girls say / Satin sheets and luxuries so fine / All your suits are custom made in London / But I’ve got something that you’ll really like” Assonance appears within the words “style,” “fine,” “I’ve” and “like” with the repetition of the hard “I” sound. This contributes to the poem because it gives it a nice rhythm Assonance almost creates a rhyme scheme in lines 2 and 4, which is part of the reason it creates a nice rhythmic flow to the stanza as a whole The other words demonstrating the hard “I” sound help create additional unity within each line of the stanza as well, again, making the stanza flow as a whole unit

Extended Metaphor “Feel the silky touch of my caresses / They will keep you looking so brand new / Let me cover you with velvet kisses / I’ll create a look that’s made for you” While this is just one example, the entire song is considered an extended metaphor It’s playing with the words and ideas people usually use for clothing and is using those same words for love This extended metaphor makes it a bit more light-hearted and whimsical vs. the often serious moods “love songs” have to them Through this technique, the reader is able to connect to the abstract idea of love in a relatable an easier way as well

Personification “Gonna dress you up in my love” Love is an abstract idea; therefore, it cannot take on the human quality of dressing up somebody Personification adds to the poem in a couple of ways 1. By giving love a human capability, it makes it seem more powerful 2. It creates a tangible image for the listener about the capability of the speaker’s love This idea of dressing up someone with love is the main motif of the song, so it also contributes to the purpose of the song

Allusion “Greta Garbo and Monroe / Deitrich and DiMaggio / Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean / On the cover of a magazine Grace Kelly, Harlow, Jean / Picture of a beauty queen / Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire / Ginger Rogers, dance on air They had style, they had grace / Rita Hayworth gave good face / Lauren, Katherine, Lana too / Bette Davis, we love you” Basically every word from these three stanzas is a reference to some pop-culture icon from 40s or 50s By using such allusions, it gives the song’s ideas a sense of classiness or celebrity relation, so the listener might be more willing to participate

Cliché “It makes no difference if you're black or white / If you're a boy or a girl” Both of these lines have been heard many times before, making it a cliché While clichés can sometimes be viewed as a negative thing, they are also sayings audience members can identify with, and that’s what’s happening here The listener understands exactly what, in this case, Madonna is saying, making it connect to him or her better

Form: Quatrain “Look around everywhere you turn is heartache It's everywhere that you go You try everything you can to escape The pain of life that you know” Above is one example of a quatrain found in the song. It clearly has four lines, but it also has an abab rhyme scheme creating unity in the quatrain This is a comfortable format people are used to in poetry and song, so it makes it easier to understand and relate to. It keeps the same thought process before moving into the chorus or changing topics, which, again, makes it easier to understand

Each of the aforementioned poetic devices create effects that allow the listener to better connect and relate the music and themes of these songs Without these techniques, the song would lose its musicality and would likely be harder for people to relate to.