Quote: "Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person."
A figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to non-human things.
Definition of Personification: This refers to a literary device whereby an inanimate object, abstract concept or animal is given human qualities or emotions.
Purpose: This refers to the reason why authors use personification, which is to make their writing more engaging and memorable, and to help readers relate to or empathize with the characters or objects in the story.
Examples: A list of examples of personification in literature, including well-known examples from classic literature, as well as examples from contemporary fiction and poetry.
Effect: This refers to the impact that personification has on the reader, both in terms of the emotional response it elicits and the way it enhances their understanding of the text.
Types of Personification: There are several different types of personification, including anthropomorphism, where non-human objects are given human-like characteristics; zoomorphism, where animals or other creatures are given human qualities; and prosopopoeia, where an abstract idea is given human attributes.
Metaphors and Similes: These are related literary devices that can also be used to give inanimate objects and abstract concepts human qualities, and are often used in conjunction with personification in literature.
Symbolism: This refers to the use of objects or concepts to represent something else, and can also be used in conjunction with personification to enhance the metaphorical and symbolic meaning of a literary work.
Historical and Cultural Context: The use of personification may have different meanings and connotations in different historical or cultural contexts, and understanding these factors can help readers better understand the text.
Analysis Techniques: Approaches to analyzing personification in literature, including close reading, comparative analysis, and thematic analysis, among others.
Criticisms and Controversies: Criticisms and debates in literary circles around the use of personification, including whether it is overused or can be seen as a form of anthropomorphism or even cultural appropriation.
Anthropomorphism: This is the most common type of personification in which animals or inanimate objects are given human-like qualities such as emotions, speech, and physical ability. For example, "The sun smiled down on the beach," or "The wind howled through the forest.".
Zoomorphism: This is the opposite of anthropomorphism, in which humans are given animal-like qualities. For example, "Her eyes were as sharp as a hawk's," or "He devoured his food like a wild beast.".
Pathetic Fallacy: This is when nature is given human emotions or feelings. For example, "The sky wept heavily upon the earth" or "The trees danced in the wind.".
Prosopopoeia: This is when an abstract concept or inanimate object is given human attributes, including voice and personality. For example, "The night whispered secrets in my ear" or "Death came knocking at my door.".
Metaphor: A metaphor compares two things without using the words "like" or "as". For example, "Her heart is a cage" or "His voice was music to her ears".
Simile: A simile compares two things using the words "like" or "as". For example, "She was as white as a ghost" or "His eyes were like the ocean".
Hyperbole: This is when something is exaggerated for effect. For example, "I've told you a million times" or "That cake is as big as a mountain".
Symbolism: This represents or stands for something beyond its literal meaning. For example, a rose symbolizes love, a dove symbolizes peace, and a snake symbolizes evil.
Quote: "These include numerous types of places, especially cities, countries, and continents, elements of the natural world such as the months or four seasons, four elements, four cardinal winds, five senses, and abstractions such as virtues, especially the four cardinal virtues and seven deadly sins, the nine Muses, or death."
Quote: "In many polytheistic early religions, deities had a strong element of personification."
Quote: "An exception was the winged goddess of victory, Victoria/Nike, who developed into the visualisation of the Christian angel."
Quote: "Personifications lack much in the way of narrative myths, although classical myth at least gave many of them parents among the major Olympian deities."
Quote: "The iconography of several personifications 'maintained a remarkable degree of continuity from late antiquity until the 18th century'."
Quote: "Female personifications tend to outnumber male ones, at least until modern national personifications, many of which are male."
Quote: "Historians and theorists of personification complain that the two have been too often confused, or discussion of them dominated by allegory."
Quote: "By the late 20th century, personification seemed largely out of fashion."
Quote: "The semi-personificatory superhero figures of many comic book series came in the 21st century to dominate popular cinema in a number of superhero film franchises."
Quote: "According to Ernst Gombrich, 'we tend to take it for granted rather than to ask questions about this extraordinary predominantly feminine population which greets us from the porches of cathedrals, crowds around our public monuments, marks our coins and our banknotes, and turns up in our cartoons and our posters.'"
Quote: "These females variously attired, of course, came to life on the medieval stage, they greeted the Prince on his entry into a city, they were invoked in innumerable speeches, they quarreled or embraced in endless epics where they struggled for the soul of the hero or set the action going."
Quote: "When the medieval versifier went out on one fine spring morning and lay down on a grassy bank, one of these ladies rarely failed to appear to him in his sleep and to explain her own nature to him in any number of lines."
Quote: "These include numerous types of places, especially cities, countries, and continents."
Quote: "Elements of the natural world such as the months or four seasons, four elements, four cardinal winds, five senses."
Quote: "Abstractions such as virtues, especially the four cardinal virtues and seven deadly sins, the nine Muses, or death."
Quote: "Personifications, suggested by descriptions such as 'god of,' had a strong element of personification."
Quote: "Many such deities, such as the tyches or tutelary deities for major cities, survived the arrival of Christianity, now as symbolic personifications stripped of religious significance."
Quote: "The semi-personificatory superhero figures of many comic book series came in the 21st century to dominate popular cinema in a number of superhero film franchises."
Quote: "These females variously attired, of course, came to life on the medieval stage, they greeted the Prince on his entry into a city, they were invoked in innumerable speeches, they quarreled or embraced in endless epics where they struggled for the soul of the hero or set the action going, and when the medieval versifier went out on one fine spring morning and lay down on a grassy bank, one of these ladies rarely failed to appear to him in his sleep and to explain her own nature to him in any number of lines."