Personification is a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics.
A rhetorical figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities.
a trope; endowing objects or abstractions with human attributes.
a figure of speech in which human traits are given to non-human things or abstractions
A manner of speech that endows things or abstractions with life or human characteristics.
a phrase that gives human thought and feeling to an abstract idea, being, or object.
A figurative use of language that endows the nonhuman (ideas, inanimate objects, animals, abstractions) with human characteristics. Keats personifies the nightingale, the Grecian urn, and autumn in his major poems.
A figure of speech in which human qualities are attributed to animals, inanimate objects or ideas (e.g., happy house).
Attaching human characteristics to something that is not human.
ascribing personal qualities to things or ideas. "Demon rum" is two figures. First "rum" is synecdoche because "rum" stands for the whole class of alcoholic beverages of which it is only really a part. Then it is personification, for ascribes to a thing the personal qualities of a minor evil deity.
giving human traits to animals or inanimate objects. The chair groaned when he sat in it.
a literary device in which the author speaks of or describes an animal, object, or idea as if it were a person
n. personification is a special kind of metaphor in which inanimate things or abstractions are referred to as if they were human. A simple example of personification is the use of the pronoun "she" when sailors speak of a ship.
a figure of speech in which a thing, an animal, an abstract term, is made human
Endowing animals, objects or ideas with human traits or abilities ( The trees laughed at us).
To attribute human qualities to elements of nature. eg. "The singing stream knew where it was going."
Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. Ex: "The cruel hand of Fate." "A one-armed bandit."
a person who represents an abstract quality; "she is the personification of optimism"
representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature
the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.
a treatment of inanimate objects or abstract ideas as though alive ("vaulting ambition"
Metaphorically represents an animal or inanimate object as having human attributesóattributes of form, character feelings, behavior, and so on. Ideas and abstractions can also be personified. example - Describing Buck, the dog: "He had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pride in himself, was ever a trifle egotistical." Jack London "If the engine whistles, let it whistle till it is hoarse for pain." Henry David Thoreau "My first and greatest love affair was with this thing they call freedom." E. B. White "Diesels turned slowly onto Brady Street, their shadows square and full of dust, their gears grinding dry toothed, their heavy brakes sighing." Gary Soto "He told his friends that worry was killing him." John Steinbeck "The treetops in the wind talked huskily, told fortunes and foretold death." John Steinbeck "To him who in the love of Nature hold Communion/with her visible forms, she speaks a various language." Thanatopsis William Cullen Bryant "Reality began its tedious crawl back into their reasoning." Maya Angelou "The whispered roar of wind in the tops of trees . . . ." James Ferry "Dancing Ducks and Talking Animals"
giving human qualities to things non-human
A form of metaphor in which language relating to human action, motivation, and emotion is used to refer to non-human agents or objects, or abstract concepts (e.g. The weather is smiling on us today; Love is blind.) See Metaphor, Figure of speech, Figurative language
A figure of speech in which a product is given human form (cf. Eponym). Mr. Clean is a perfect example. Nintendo Game Boy game system is another example.
A figure of speech in which abstractions or inanimate objects are given human qualities or form.
a figure of speech which gives human characteristics to non human things or inanimate objects.
A type of metaphor where human characteristics or feelings are given to an animal, object, or idea (the brave tree)
giving human characteristics to an animal or an object
figure of speech giving human qualities to non-human things
treating an abstraction as a person
Imaginatively giving personal, human attributes to an impersonal entity, object, or idea. The most prominent example of this in the Course is the personification of the ego, which is often described in vivid, personal terms, but in fact is only an idea in the mind. Here are two more examples, in which fear and death are personified, respectively: Fear's messengers are trained through terror, and they tremble when their master calls on them to serve him....Its messengers steal guiltily away in hungry search of guilt, for they are kept cold and starving and made very vicious by their master, who allows them to feast only upon what they return to him. (T-19.IV(A).12:3,5) For [death] seems to hold all living things within its withered hand; all hopes and wishes in its blighting grasp; all goals perceived but in its sightless eyes. (W-pI.163.2:2)
An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form. (e.g. the wind screamed)
(F. from L. persona 'actor's face mask, character'; ÀÀ¤H¤Æ): The technique of treating abstractions, things or animals as persons; a kind of metaphor; also called anthropomorphism (Gk. anthropos 'man' + morphe 'form').
Describing something that isn't human with human characteristics.
1. The attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions. 2. The representation of a thing or abstraction in the form of a person, as in art. 3. The person or thing embodying a quality or the like; an embodiment or incarnation. "The cowboy is the spirit of America."
A figure of speech in which an animal, an object, a natural force, or an idea is given personality, or described as if it were human.
A figure of speech in which things or abstract ideas are given human attributes: dead leaves dance in the wind, blind justice.
Attributing human characteristics to something that isn't human.
A statement that an inanimate object has lifelike characteristics
A figure of speech which endows animals, ideas, or inanimate objects with human traits or abilities.
is figurative language that ascribes human characteristics to an abstraction, animal, idea, or inanimate object. Consider, for example, Tomson Highway's description in "What a Certain Visionary Once Said" of the earth that breathes and "whisper(s) things that simple men, who never suspected they were mad, can hear." Persuasion
The giving of human characteristics or personality to an inanimate object or animal. This is a figurative language technique used to describe an inaminate object or animal behaving or looking like a human might.
is a figure of speech in which something nonhuman is given human characteristics. Example: Macbeth says that "sleep ... knits up the raveled sleeve of care... chief nourisher in life's feast."
when a writer gives the qualities of a human being to an object, animal, or idea.
The literary device of portraying an idea or non-human object as a human being. Chapter 14.
a device whereby an inanimate object is given a human quality. e.g. The coals settled comfortably in the fireplace. (Coal is normally regarded as inanimate/lifeless but here it is seen as settling like a human might settle into a chair.)
describing an inanimate object as having human characteristics, e.g. 'the earth moved for him when they met'
Figure of speech whereby inanimate objects or abstractions are given human characteristics. In his poem Low Water Ted Hughes uses personification to describe a river e.g. 'She lolls on her deep couch. And a long thigh Lifts from the flash of her silks.' Personification is a form of metaphor. See also anthropomorphism.
The attributing of human characteristics to nonhuman things (animals, objects, ideas): "That night wind was breathing across me through the spokes of the wheel."?Wallace Stegner.
Metaphorically represents an animala or inanimate object as having human attricutes, attributes of form, character feeling, behavior, and so on; such as, The angry ocean swallowed the oceanliner in one gulp.
A type of metaphor where human characteristics or feelings are given to an animal, object, or idea: the determined little hummingbird or the crying wind.
(Also known as PROSOPOPOEIA) A figure of speech in which either an inanimate object or an abstract idea is spoken of as though it were endowed with life or with human attributes or feeling.
Personification, or personification anthropomorphism is a figure of speech that gives non-humans and objects human traits and qualities.(EX: the bear was talking to the little girl) These attributes may include sensations, emotions, desires, physical gestures, expressions, and powers of speech, among others. As a figure of speech it has a very long history; its Greek name is prosopopoeia. Examples include: "The pencil flew out of my hand", "The tree jumped into the road in front of my car", and "With an evil scowl, the stormcloud thundered its disapproval".