Name: ____________________________
Date: _______
Creating a Poem with Personification – Emotion Personification
Brainstorm a list of emotions or qualities a person might feel or have.
Then, choose one of the emotions to personify.
joy, grief, fury, loneliness, boredom, hysteria, peace, jealousy, shyness
How would you represent this emotion as a person? What would it be like as a person?
What would it look like? Sound like?
Create a character and a moment in time where they experience a situation that
illustrates an emotion.
Fill in the description of the person that you imagined in part A. Then transfer your
description to part B and start turning your ideas into a poem. Then make the poem
your own by changing the words and form so that it is uniquely yours.
Part A
1. Emotion as a person_____________________________________________________
2. What is the person body type? Describe____________________________________
3. Describe how the person moves. What kind of things does he or she do physically?
What kind of mannerisms does he or she have?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Describe the person’s coloring (hair, eyes, skin tone and quality)__________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. Describe the way the person speaks and what he or she says ____________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Describe the way the person (emotion/quality) makes you feel __________________
________________________________________________________________________
Part B (numbers relate to Part A questions)
I saw __1__________________________________ clearly.
He/she was __2__________________________________________________________.
He/she turned ___3_______________________________________________________.
I saw his or her __4_______________________________________________________.
And him or her _5________________________________________________________.
And I felt __6____________________________________________________________.
Part C: Make the poem your own. Play with the form, punctuation, and word choices.
Creating a Poem with Personification Samples
I saw anger clearly.
He was muscular and strong.
He turned and lunged at me, fist thrust forward.
I saw his red, crackled skin and black eyes
And heard him bellow with rage
I felt afraid.
What’s wrong with this poem?
Love
I saw love clearly
She was tall and beautiful
She turned to me slowly, arms wide open
I saw her light brown hair, and big hazel eyes
And her kind, cradling voice
And I felt renewed
What’s wrong with this poem?
Still follows the original form.
Word choices could be stronger.
No creative title
Not much other figurative language or
sounds were used.
Needs to create more of a situation
Still follows the original form.
Word choices could be stronger.
No creative title
Not much other figurative language or
sounds were used.
Needs to create more a situation.
Justin Alford 1995
Depression
I saw depression clearly
She was frail, small
She walked staring endlessly at the ground
As if she saw something amazing
I saw her pale face, teary eyes
I heard her speak through silence
I felt sorry
What’s wrong with this poem?
Still to some extent follows the original
form.
Word choices could be stronger.
No creative title
Not much other figurative language or
sounds were used.
Needs to create more of a situation.
Tempa Haine 1995
Relieved to be Wrong
I felt relief
When I heard “Cancer free”
Echoing in my head like a joyous bell
He stood beside me wrapped in a white coat
And gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze
With his surgeon’s hand
When I turned to say “thank you”
Through a crystal curtain of tears
His kind, blue eyes framed by silver hair above
And dimpled cheeks below
Winked and crinkled
And he smiled, relieved too that he had been wrong
About stage three cancer
I squeezed my mom’s hand
And knew she felt relief too.
What do you notice about this poem?