Personification Worksheets

About Our Personification Worksheets

This collection of Personification Worksheets, part of the Language category within the Skills section, serves as an essential resource for students learning the art of figurative language. Personification is a powerful literary device that allows writers and speakers to breathe life into inanimate objects, animals, or abstract ideas by attributing human qualities to them. Mastering personification enhances students' reading comprehension, creative writing, and ability to interpret and engage with texts on a deeper level.

The worksheets in this collection are provided in a convenient PDF format, making them easy to view, download, and print. Additionally, each worksheet is accompanied by a downloadable answer key, allowing educators to efficiently guide students through the material. These worksheets are suitable for a variety of learning environments, whether in the classroom or for homeschooling, providing students with the tools they need to better understand and apply personification.

Defining Personification: Bringing Language to Life

Personification is a form of figurative language that gives human characteristics to non-human entities. It allows us to imagine objects, animals, or even abstract concepts as if they have human emotions, actions, or traits. This literary device helps create vivid imagery and emotional connections in writing, making descriptions more engaging and relatable.

What Is Personification?

At its core, personification occurs when human qualities, such as emotions, actions, or speech, are assigned to something that is not human. This figurative language device makes the non-human feel familiar, which can evoke stronger emotional responses from readers or listeners.

• Literal Definition: Personification is the attribution of human traits to objects, animals, or ideas. For example, "The wind whispered through the trees" gives the wind the human ability to whisper, making the scene more evocative and lively.
• Why Use Personification?: This device allows writers to make abstract or lifeless things more accessible and meaningful by making them relatable to human experiences. In the example "Time marches on," time is depicted as a soldier relentlessly moving forward, conveying the unstoppable nature of time.

How Personification Works

Personification relies on humanizing non-human elements in a way that aligns with the human experience, enhancing readers' engagement with a text.

• Objects: Non-living things like the sun, moon, or a storm can be personified. For instance, "The sun smiled down on the children" suggests that the sun is happy and welcoming, which influences the mood of the scene.
• Animals: Animals are often personified in stories to give them human emotions or motivations. An example would be, "The dog sighed with disappointment when his owner left," attributing human emotions like disappointment to an animal.
• Ideas or Abstract Concepts: Concepts like death, love, or hope can also be personified. For example, "Fear crept into the room" suggests that fear is an active force capable of movement, heightening the intensity of the description.

By assigning human actions or feelings to these elements, personification makes writing richer, more imaginative, and easier for readers to connect with emotionally.

Diverse Uses of Personification: Beyond the Basics

Personification is a versatile device found in various forms of communication. It is used not only in literature but also in daily speech, advertising, and art. By making objects or ideas relatable, personification becomes a bridge between abstract concepts and the reader’s own experiences. Here are some common usages of personification, accompanied by examples:

Literature

Personification is frequently used in literature to enhance storytelling. By giving life-like qualities to inanimate objects, authors create vivid scenes and immerse readers in a more dynamic narrative.

• Example: In William Wordsworth’s poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, he personifies daffodils by writing, "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance." Here, the flowers are given the human action of dancing, adding joy and movement to the scene.
• Example: In George Orwell’s 1984, time is personified in the phrase "the clocks were striking thirteen," which not only adds an eerie feeling but also conveys the unsettling atmosphere of a dystopian world.

Everyday Speech

People use personification in everyday language to express feelings or describe events in more colorful and relatable ways.

• Example: Phrases like "The alarm clock screamed at me this morning" or "The car groaned as it climbed the steep hill" demonstrate how personification can make mundane objects feel alive, often for humor or emphasis.
• Example: "Opportunity knocked on my door" uses personification to convey the idea of an opportunity presenting itself in a way that is almost tangible.

Advertising

Marketers often use personification in advertisements to connect with consumers on an emotional level, making products seem more personable or relatable.

• Example: A cereal brand might describe the product as "a bowl of sunshine," implying that the cereal brings warmth and joy, which evokes positive emotions in the consumer.
• Example: In car commercials, vehicles are often personified as sleek, powerful creatures with human-like agility and strength. Phrases like “This car purrs down the highway” assign human traits to an inanimate object, making the product more appealing.

By giving human qualities to objects or ideas, personification enhances communication and strengthens connections between the audience and the subject matter.

The Impact of Personification on Literacy Development

Learning to identify and use personification plays a crucial role in improving students' literacy skills and academic performance. As students engage with personification, they develop stronger abilities in reading comprehension, creative writing, and speaking. Here’s how personification contributes to their overall language development:

Improving Reading Comprehension

By recognizing personification in texts, students are better equipped to interpret deeper meanings, draw connections between ideas, and appreciate the emotional or thematic layers of a story. This skill helps them engage with a wide range of genres, from poetry to fiction to nonfiction.

• Example: When students encounter phrases like "The moon gazed down at the earth," they begin to understand the emotional or symbolic significance behind such descriptions, rather than taking the words literally.

Enhancing Writing Skills

When students apply personification in their writing, they learn to convey more nuanced emotions and vivid imagery. This improves the quality of their creative and descriptive writing by making their ideas more engaging and memorable.

• Example: Rather than simply stating "The wind was strong," students might write, "The wind howled through the trees," which adds depth and evokes a clearer image for the reader.

Developing Speaking and Listening Abilities

In discussions and presentations, students who understand personification can communicate their ideas more expressively. Similarly, recognizing personification in others’ speech helps students develop better listening and interpretation skills.

• Example: Students might say, "The city never sleeps," using personification to give a more lively description of a bustling city. This makes their speech more engaging and relatable to listeners.

By mastering personification, students enhance their ability to express themselves clearly and interpret language in more sophisticated ways.

Engaging Activities to Reinforce Personification

To further solidify students' understanding of personification, educators can offer a variety of activities that make learning interactive, fun, and effective. These activities can be adapted for both classroom and homeschool settings, catering to different grade levels and learning styles.

Grades 3-5

• Personification Picture Match: Students receive images of objects, animals, or natural elements (such as the sun, trees, or the sea) and must come up with personified descriptions for each. For example, for an image of the sun, students might write, "The sun smiled warmly down on us."

Grades 6-8

• Personification Poetry: Encourage students to write short poems using personification. They can choose an object or element of nature and describe it with human traits. For example, they might write about a storm "angrily thrashing its arms" across the sky.

Grades 9-12

• Personification in Art and Literature Analysis: Students can analyze how personification is used in works of art or literature. For example, they might examine how personification in a painting adds to its emotional impact, or how an author uses personification to reflect a character’s inner thoughts or the mood of a scene.

These activities allow students to explore personification in creative, hands-on ways, ensuring that they not only understand the concept but also know how to apply it effectively.

The Practical Relevance of Personification in Daily Life

Personification is a valuable skill that extends beyond academic settings and into everyday life. Understanding and using personification enhances communication by making descriptions more vivid and relatable, whether in casual conversation, creative expression, or professional settings. This figurative language technique helps students become more effective communicators, critical readers, and creative thinkers.

From identifying personification in literature to applying it in writing and speech, mastering this device equips students with the tools they need to succeed in both their personal and academic lives. Personification enables students to breathe life into their language, making their words more impactful and resonant with audiences of all kinds.