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Teacher-of-Literacy.com
Poetry Resources
Personification
Personification
Today’s Objectives:
• To recognise and understand the
purpose of a poet’ use of
personification.
Where does the word come from?
Answer
The root word in personification
is person (human).
Definition
Personification is the use of
human traits to represent
animals, objects, events, and
ideas.
How does this work?
What are some human traits and activities?
Where have you seen animals
(real or imaginary) exhibiting
these traits and taking part in
these activities?
Where have you seen animals that
exhibit human traits?
• Television
– Cartoons
– Commercials
• Movies
• Stories
– Fables
– Fairy Tales
– Novels
EXAMPLES
The flowers danced in the wind.
The friendly gates welcomed
us.
The Earth coughed and choked in all of the
pollution.
More Personification examples
The headlights winked in the gathering dusk.
Gentle breezes stroked our faces.
Fire walked across the hill.
The headlights, breeze and fire have taken
on human qualities.
THE FROWNING CLIFF
by Herbert Asquith
The sea has a laugh
And the cliff a frown;
For the laugh of the sea
Is wearing him down.
Lipping and lapping
Frown as he may,
The laughing sea
Will eat him away;
Knees and body,
And tawny head,
He’ll smile at last
On a golden bed.
• What is the poem about?
• You will be covering this in
Geography
• What human qualities is the
sea given in this poem?
• What human qualities is the
cliff given?
• Why does the sea have a
laugh?
• Why is the poem called the
frowning cliff?
• What is the last stanza
suggesting will happen?