Personification
Definition:
Personification is one of the most commonly used and recognized literary devices. It refers to the practice of attaching human traits and characteristics with inanimate objects, phenomena and animals.
Example:
“The raging winds”
“The wise owl”
“The warm and comforting fire”
Comments
417 comments postedWho is "they"? If it is people, then no, it isn't a personification. If it was some other trees or rocks, then yes.
"And there the moon-bird rests from his flight"
- I want to say it is because it is a human trait to "rest" but just wanted to make sure before I place it in my essay.
No, resting isn't an exclusively human trait.
But um so I have a project and it says that I have to include a term of personification...
A snowy owl floated past,
turning his head as he peered down at her curiously.
The first sentence is imagery because owls can't exactly "float", but neither can humans. The second sentence is not personification because owls can turn their heads and peer down. The only questionable thing is "curiously". Some people believe that animals can be curious and some people don't, so it's personification if you don't believe that animals (owls in this case) can be curious. Otherwise, none of this is personification.
is "the jacket was a stupid meaningless thing that was robbing him of his life" personification???
same
!
Is "a scream burst from her" personification
The water catched the boy.
"I must remember to give my stomach the word"
yes
I don't think that it is because he is giving his stomach the word. The HUMAN is giving the stomach the word. If the stomach gave the human the word, then it would be, but I don't think that his sentence is.
"The plants were stressed, and the bugs loved that."
Yes, it would; the plants in real life wouldn't be able to be actually stressed out.
Is this personification? The TV looed older than a 97 year old man.
I don't believe so because the TV is not the one doing the action of looking.
Its comparing the Tv to the man, and its not using Like or As
Is this personification?
is "play over your head" a personification
Exposed to the light that seep
I need help what is give me a hand? Is it a simile or personificatinon or onomatopoeias or hyperboles or idioms or metaphor plz help me
I don't think the person is actually going to give you one of their (Or someone's) hands.
The pumpkins sat there
pumpkins can't sit humans can
this is not personification
same to you
yes
Pretty Pictures
Not sure whether "she rendered it simple in but a few moments of close-up" is personification or not?
No it's not
"put not another sin on my head" is this personification?
Thank you in advance
no
No, this is not personification because neither your head or the sin is given a human trait.
Don't know you still need it, but "put not another sin on my head" sounds to be more synecdoche than personification, as the writer is using head to refer to the entire self.
Also, it seems that the writer is not trying to ascribe a human quality to the head, that is he isn't describing the head according to the word "sin."
Does that make sense? If I described the sun as sinful or the trees as sinful, then that'd be using the word "sin" to describe them and directly to humanize them. But if I say, 'let not another sin fall upon this earth," I am not describing the earth as "sinful," nor am I trying to give it a human characteristic to make it feel alive or capable of sin.
But especially, in this case, because the head is meant to refer to one's self, I can't see this as personification, unless the speaker was personifying him/her self, which would require him/her to be something other than human, which could happen in some contexts. Rather they were using a part of something to refer to the whole, meaning synecdoche.
Hope that helped.
Full disclosure: I'm no English professor, I'm no published writer, I'm not even a grad-student or anything like that. I'm just a sophomore in college who likes to think of himself as a writer.
The wrath of the moon.
The warrior that is the sun.
Thank you for your advice.
the first is but the second one is more of a metaphor
My child's teacher said, the tea cup took a lot of tea, was not personification, because a dog can take a bone.
Also, the wind roared was seem as personification.
Does it have to be something only humans can do, attributed to a non-human?
I'm not sure I agree with the teacher's response to "the cup took a lot of tea," since a person can certainly take something.
"The wind roared" is an example of zoomorphism, where a person or object takes on qualities of animals. Lions roar. People do not typically roar; if they do, it's seen as an animalistic attribute. Zoomorphism is not taught often among literary elements, even though it is a fairly common occurrence in literature. Your child's teacher may not have been aware of the term, and so had trouble explaining why roaring wind is not personification.
Personification *is* giving only HUMAN attributes to non-human things. Notice that the word "person" is within the word itself.
Is "happy torment" personification?
is black dark personification?
“her heart talked to her as she saw the love of her life"
Yes, it is personification because your heart can't talk.
It has to be something more eternal
is shining heart personification
yesssss!!!!!! :)
yes
"Wheezing and Gasping"
Is that expression personification
These are verbs - doing / action words
"The sand wiggles beneath your toes." Is this personification?
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