Personification is one of the more commonly used figures of speech. It is giving human attributes such as feelings, actions, thoughts and habits to non-human things (animals, objects or ideas). Things or abstracts are given human qualities.

Personification abounds in poetry and plays --

~ In Emily Dickinson's "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"

~ In William Blake's "Two Sunflowers Moved in the Yellow Room"

"They arranged themselves at the window and counted the steps of the sun,"

~ In Sylvia Plath's "Mirror"

"Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful --"

~ In William Shakespeare's "Othello"

"O beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on."

When personifying an object/animal/idea, ask the following:

1. What human quality can this object/animal/idea possess?
2. What physical characteristics can I give this object/animal/idea?

Now try to see if you can personify these:

About the Author

Shery Ma Belle Arrieta is the creator of WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 1,000,000 Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite for fr*e - WriteSparks!