Personification
A figure of speech in which non-human entities (animals, objects, abstractions, natural phenomena) are given human characteristics, emotions, or agency. Personification makes the abstract concrete and the distant intimate.
Real World
In Wilfred Owen's 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', rifles are given the human action of 'stuttering' prayers, transforming weapons into grotesque mourners and emphasising the dehumanisation of industrial warfare.
Exam Focus
Name the human quality transferred and explain its emotional effect — don't just identify 'personification' without analysing impact.
How well did you know this?