PERSONIFICATION
Dorothy:
Don't be silly, Toto. Scarecrows
don't talk.
PERSONIFICATION
A figure of speech which
endows animals, ideas, or
inanimate objects with human
traits or abilities.
EXAMPLES
The Train
I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step
Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties by the sides of roads;
And then a quarry pare
To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill
And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a start its own,
Stop-docile and omnipotentA stable door.
By Emily Dickinson
The Cat & The Fiddle
Hey diddle, Diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
By Mother Goose
Two Sunflowers
Move in the Yellow Room .
"Ah, William, we're weary of weather,"
said the sunflowers, shining with dew.
"Our traveling habits have tired us.
Can you give us a room with a view?“
They arranged themselves at the window
and counted the steps of the sun,
and they both took root in the carpet
where the topaz tortoises run.
William Blake
PERSONIFICATION Practice
Lets’ check to see if you can
recognize personification.
Decide whether the following are
personification or not.
1.) Walking desks took over
town.
Is it personification?
Yes!
Desks don’t walk. Humans do.
Got it?
2.) I listen to the wind.
Is it personification?
No!
The wind is audible, but might not have
human characteristics in this instance.
Try another…
3.) The dog stares
carefully at me.
Is it personification?
Nope.
Dogs, like you and I, can stare. Nothing
especially human about it.
Get that one right?
How about this one!
4.) The snake loves
food.
Is it personification?
No, again!
In this example, snakes loving food means
they like to eat. Nothing more.
Couple more…
5.) Moon dances around
my fear.
Is it personification?
Absolutely.
Human beings can dance. Moons cannot.
Doing well?
6.) The thought lumbered
around in my mind.
Is it personification?
Yes!
Thoughts don’t generally lumber.
Two more!
7.) Ronnie Johnson smiles
at the fox.
Is it personification?
No way!
Ronnie Johnson is a person. The fox has
nothing to do with smiling.
Last one!
8.) Wind whispers like a
tree in the breeze
Is it personification?
Yes!
Winds don’t whisper, people do.
That was it!