Minds On
Ways to express yourself: personification
What strategies have you learned about to help make your work more interesting? Can you think about how your favourite authors bring their ideas to life?
Writers can use nouns and verbs together in special ways to add interest to their work. Let’s review what nouns and verbs are.
A noun is a word or set of words for a person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples of nouns are dog, chair, people, bedroom, or mathematics.
A verb is a word or set of words that shows action.
Examples of verbs are sleep, sing, eat, or lift.
Now let’s explore how nouns and verbs can be used together. Identify the nouns (objects) and the verbs (actions) that the object is doing in the following sentence. What do you notice about these nouns and verbs?
Example
The plum hummed a song.
We know that plums cannot hum songs. However the plum is given the human trait of humming to capture the reader’s attention and give character to the plum. How does the idea of a plum humming a song change how you think or feel about the plum?
Action
What is personification?
Giving the plum the human trait of humming is a literary device called personification.
Literary devices are specific language techniques which authors use to create text that is clear, interesting, and memorable.
One such literary device is called personification. Personification is a writing tool used to give human qualities to animals, objects and other non-human things. It connects readers with the object that is being personified.
Explore the following video as Teacher Shahana tells you all about personification and why writers use them to engage their audience. What reasons does Teacher Shahana give for why authors use personification?
Student Success
Think-Pair-Share
Examine the following poems.
Use the Poem Worksheet in your notebook or use the following fillable and printable document to identify the nouns (objects) and the verbs (actions) that the object is doing.
What do you notice is being personified? How do these nouns and verbs impact the meaning of the sentences?
Which personified object is the most interesting to you? List three ways the personification helps you connect with the author’s message. You may record your thoughts on paper, computer software, or you may describe your ideas in an audio recording. Here’s an example:
I like the personification “The sky turns out the light and pulls up a thick blanket.” It helps me visualize the colour of the sky before a storm.
When you’re done, you may draw your personification or search for an image online that represents how that personification makes you feel.
Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.
Consolidation
Your turn to express yourself!
Giving inanimate objects life can be lots of fun. Now it is your turn to make the wind whistle through the trees or have the sun wake up from a long nap. Think about different objects in nature such as clouds, wind, the sun, rivers, mountains, and how you can make your writing more interesting by using personification.
Brainstorm
Brainstorm
Choose a theme for your poem. Brainstorm a list of 10 nouns that relate to that theme. You may like to use a chart, a mind map, or record your thoughts as an audio recording. Then brainstorm 10 verbs that would personify your nouns or give them human traits.
Here are some examples.
| Non-living objects/nouns | Actions/verbs |
|---|---|
| moon | laughed |
| flowers | danced |
Once you have completed your brainstorming, create a poem that uses all your personifications. When you have finished be ready to share your poem with a partner, if possible. How did your poem make them feel? Did they have a favourite personification? Did any of your personifications not make sense to them? Reflect on your partner's answers and consider if you should revise any of your personifications. Once you have made any changes, prepare a final copy of your poem.
Reflection
As you read through these descriptions, which sentence best describes how you are feeling about your understanding of this learning activity? Press the button that is beside this sentence.
I feel...
Now, record your ideas using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.