Personification

Posted by Elizabeth Yetter Mar 13, 2007

An example of personification is this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Conduct of Life “Wealth”:

“Art is a jealous mistress.”

Think of other things that can be described as having people qualities: the sun, moon, music, a rose.

Personification can also be used with animals. For example

“The chicken clucked at me.”

can be changed to

“The chicken hurled insult after insult at me.”

The words “hate” and “love” can also be applied to inanimate objects:

“My computer hates me.”

“The camera loves me.”

The use of personification helps the reader better identify with what the author is portraying. It also is a way of adding excitement to your work, enticing the reader to continue reading the story to what will happen next.