FRASER’S EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE

English Literature Handout and Worksheet

Personification
They say…
There's a man in the moon,
And mother nature's probably sick with all the stuff that we're doing.
OK, that's not literally true.
Nature's not a lady, and the moon is not a dude.
But when you give human qualities to Creatures, ideas or objects then you
Are using personification, personification!
Drop it in when you write, make it part of the equation.
I could say, “The wind blows.” That's fine,
But that line isn't going to blow anybody's mind.
Let's personify the wind, I'll rewrite it as:
“The wind whispers in the tall grass.” I personified the wind, it's a figure of
speech, that wind isn't literally whispering to me.
I don't care if it's not literal, admit it:
That second line is way more vivid.
Like, “When the farmer put his axe in the soil, he was amazed to see that the
Earth bled oil.”
I don't use it all the time, my writing would hate me. I use it from time to time,
now my lines want to date me.
See what I did there?
I said my lines want to date me, So I personified my lines.
You know what I'm talking about.
Hook
I'm not lying, when I'm personifying, I give something nonhuman a human
ability.
Hope tiptoed into my heart.
The open road called to me from the start.

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I'm not lying, when I'm personifying, I give something nonhuman a human
ability.
The weather changed her mind again.
The little car groaned as we all piled in.
Personification is a useful tool,
When authors want to set a certain mood, like:
“The astronaut tried to steer, but regardless, his ship hurtled on, swallowed by
the darkness.” Yo, that's a little freaky, if I'm being honest.
I can picture the dark closing in around the rocket. By using personification,
the author fosters a mood of gloom and doom. Plus, she increases the sense of
suspense, so stay sensitive to these sentences.
A different passage, same technique:
“The snow kissed her eyelashes as she fell asleep.”
The writer personifies the snowfall
To make the mood sweet and peaceful. So far it puts an image in your mind
like a video phone call.
It's used by all the greats from Rowling* to Roald Dahl+. *
J.K. Rowling- author of the
Hook Harry Potter books.
+
I'm not lying, when I'm personifying, Roald Dahl- author of “Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory”,
I give something nonhuman a human ability. and many others
Hope tiptoed into my heart.
The open road called to me from the start.
I'm not lying, when I'm personifying, I give something nonhuman a human
ability.
The weather changed her mind again.
The little car groaned as we all piled in.

Take this example from Emily Dickinson: Emily Dickinson was an American poet
The sky is low, the clouds are mean,
A traveling flake of snow Across a barn or through a rut Debates if it will go.

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A narrow wind complains all day

How someone treated him;
Nature, like us, is sometimes caught without her diadem.
And that's personification, that's personification. Diadem- a jeweled crown

Activity 1
In the following reading entitled “Moon Phases”, we personify the moon to
better explain the phases of the moon. Read the following lines:
The sun is at my back so I’m invisible to you. This is phase three, also known as the quarter,
You may think that I’ve disappeared into space, My shape is like a half circle, a wedge of orange… I’m the
But my other side is shining—you can’t see a trace. only body in space that humans visited, You had a lunar
In phase two, I’ll have a thin banana shape, landing, but stayed just a little bit.
Most of my face is hidden in the shade It was wild! You humans came and left a flag,
A few days later as I continue my trip, But it’s lonely in the sky, I hope you come back.
The sun hits me more ’til half my face is lit.

In these lines, what human traits and/or abilities does the moon have?
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Activity 2

To use personification, you must describe objects and scenes as if they were people
showing emotions.
The following list contains objects having human attributes in a situation or
location. Create sentences that personify these objects.
The first one is done for you.

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Object Human attribute Situation/Location

1. trees danced in the wind
2. fireplace called living room
3. sun peeked behind a cloud
4. car squealed highway
5. stars winked night sky
6. wind screamed desert
7. TV awoke of a button
8. pencil wrote on the page
9. teapot sang boiled
10. dishes danced earthquake
11. car engine complained to move
12. river swallowed rise higher

Sentences:
1. The trees danced back and forth in the wind.

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________________________________________

6. ___________________________________________________________________________

7. ___________________________________________________________________________

8. ___________________________________________________________________________

9. ___________________________________________________________________________

10. ________________________________________________________________________

11. ________________________________________________________________________

12. ________________________________________________________________________

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