Personification

Personification

English 9

Personification is...

giving human qualities to non-human things.

HUH?!

This can be tricky, but maybe some examples can help!

Consider this!

The leaves slept calmly on the top of the pond.

Can leaves sleep? No! Sleeping is for living things like people and animals.

This is an example of personification!

How about another example!

The sun dashed into the sky and screamed good morning to the world!

The verbs (action words) dashed and screamed are things the sun can't do... but we can!

Multiple Choice

Is there personification in the sentence below?

The stuffed animal leaped to the floor with glee as the child entered the room.

• Yes

• No

If you said yes, you are correct!

Stuffed animals can't leap... unless you are in a movie. :-)

Stuffed animals also can't feel "glee" or happiness.

These are both examples of PERSONIFICATION!

Let's try another one!

Multiple Choice

Is there personification in the sentence below?

Samantha was late for class, so she jumped out of bed and sprinted to her computer.

• Yes

• No

This is no personification here.

A person can jump and run.

Multiple Choice

Is this an example of personification?

As I woke up, my computer sang out in excitement that ENGLISH CLASS WAS STARTING SOON!

• Yes

• No

Yes! This is personification!

I can only hope that if my computer sings, it sings better than I do. :-)

Look at what a great job you did!

Did you eat some superfoods today?

Poll

After reviewing personification, I feel

• like my teacher is silly, but I am a little better.

• like I need a few more examples from my teacher.

• like I just may have it! YAY!