The personification or Humanization , Sometimes called prosopopoeia , Is a rhetorical resource used to bring human qualities to inanimate or abstract objects. In this article I show you some literary examples.
As a communicative technique, it is taken as a fact or simple convention. The personification allows to demonstrate the ingenuity used by the authors of the end of the Middle Ages And beginnings of the Modern Age.
Literary and pictorial genres were designed to attract large audiences, such as theater festivals and actual events. It is frequent to use allegorical personification, which indicates that the figure was seen to please a wide spectrum of tastes and expectations.
Personification works in multiple registers, sensory and spiritual, visible and invisible, concrete and abstract and consists of facts, opinions and beliefs. With reference to the visible, current events and situations were represented through humanizations.
The use of humanization is motivated by several trends that emerged in the last decade in cultural studies, which addresses artistic expression from the body, performance and knowledge.
Between the steps of the personification four aspects are distinguished: the theory of the personification, the perception, the means and its context.
1- The wind whispered through the dark and gloomy forest. It can be observed that the subject of the sentence, the wind, is personified through the verb to whisper.
2 - The gardener lovingly added the manure to his crops, believing that he was making happy flowers . The humanized element with the flowers giving them the quality of the human feeling of happiness.
3- As we walked through the hot desert, the sun beat us . The humanized element is the sun by giving it the quality of striking.
4- Time dragged while Tim sat in the hot holding room, painfully watching the clock . The humanized element is the time when the trawling quality is given to it.
5 - The woodcutter leveled the large number of trees in a clearing and his chainsaw sang his mortal song . The humanized element is the chainsaw, which is given the quality of singing.
6- When Monica walked through the shoe store, each pair of heels called him . Personification applies to heels, giving the quality of communication.
7- When the patriots defeated the British army, freedom resounded through the fruit plains . The characteristic personified by sound was the abstract element of freedom.
As Alice searched for the missing pencil, she said sarcastically,"Well, I guess she just walked away from my desk" . She glared at her companions. The personified element is the pencil when given the quality of walking.
9- The horrible yellow of the wallpaper in the kitchen shouted to Kelly . The humanized element through sound, is the color of the wallpaper.
10- Guillermo ate the last chocolate biscuit before his father returned home, guilt peeped and chewed him . The humanized element through peeking and chewing is guilt.
11- Drops of dew sing to the stones of the garden . The personified element is drops of dew to give him the quality of singing.
12- The home called me at dawn and dew. The personified element is the home to which the call quality is attributed.
13- The wind moaned aloud . The wind is personified to have the quality of moaning.
14- When dancing the water, there remained a time singing and 3 men next to him of listeners . The personified element is the water to be assigned the characteristic of dancing.
15- A tree bends dark where the wall rises, its branches tortured like a frightful hand . The elements personified are the branches of the tree when being assigned the quality of suffering tortures.
16- The snow whispered falling to the ground . Humanization was applied to the snow by giving it the quality of whispering.
17- The birds expressed their joy . The birds were personified by being attributed the quality of feeling joy.
18- Groundhog floated indecisively . He was given the human quality of discerning the marmot.
19- The computer hates me . He was assigned the human quality of hating the computer.
20- The lights blinked in the distance . He was assigned the human quality of the sense of sight to the lights.
21- The moon is a hard lover. The humanized element was the moon for being considered a lover.
22- The sun winked good night as it disappeared behind the mountain . The quality of the sense of sight is assigned to the sun, in this case.
23- The big full moon led me confidently through the forest . The personified quality of trust was assigned to the moon.
24- The mountain clucked at the rumbles beneath its surface . The quality of the sense of hearing was assigned to the mountain.
25- As the rain ran to the ground, everyone ran to cover . The humanized quality of running was attributed to the rain.
The old car snorted and shuddered when the man started the engine . You give the human breath quality to the car.
27- The wind howled a sad cry as it blew through the old windows . The human quality assigned to the wind is to shout.
28- The leaves danced on the ground as the children played around the old tree . The personified quality of the dance was assigned to the leaves.
29- When the boy started his math test, his pencil turned the page . He was assigned the personified quality of discernment in pencil to make it pass the page.
30- The tornado devoured everything in its path . Tornado is credited with the personified quality of devouring everything.
References
- Figurative Language Worksheets, Personification Worksheets. Retrieved from: englishlinx.com.
- Figurative Language. Retrieved from: tbes.wpusd.k12.ca.us.
- Personification. Recovered from: figurasliterarias.org.
- Personification in Poetry. Retrieved from: teacher.scholastic.com.
- Personification Worksheet. Retrieved from: ereadingworksheets.com.
- Personification. Retrieved from: abcteach.com.
- Personification: An introduction, by Walter S. Melion and Bart Ramakers. Retrieved from: uni-muenster.de.
- Similes, Metaphors and Personification. Retrieved from: growingwithgrammar.com.
- Writing with personification, Teri and Titt's Creative Resources. Retrieved from: windham-schools.org.