How to Use Personification Examples to Bring Your Writing to Life?

Personification is a literary device that can be used to great effect in writing. When used correctly, it can help to create vivid and memorable images that stay with the reader long after they’ve finished reading.

When you personify something, you give it human qualities or characteristics. This can be done by giving the object or concept a name, speaking to it as if it were a person, or by describing its actions in human terms.

How does Personification make writing effective?

Personification can be used to great effect in writing, as it can help to create vivid and memorable images that stay with the reader long after they’ve finished reading. By giving an object or concept human qualities or characteristics, it becomes easier for the reader to relate to what they are reading and to visualise it in their mind. This can be especially useful when writing about abstract concepts or ideas.

In the world of academia, you often use personification while writing about hard concepts to make them easier for the average Joe to digest. For example, you might talk about the “fury” of a storm or the “intelligence” of a computer.

Personification can also be used to add humour or irony to your writing. By describing something in human terms that it clearly is not, you can create a disconnect that can be funny or poignant. Or it can also be used for comic effect, as in this example from Dr Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat:”

“Look at me! Look at me! Watch me wiggle!” / Said the cat. / “I can shake my head. / I can nod my head. / I can turn around.” / “I can twist my belly. / I can shake my tail.”

You may use personification to make a point or to create an emotional response in your reader. In the example above, the personification of the cat is used to create a sense of mischievous fun. However, personification can also be used to convey more serious emotions, such as anger, sadness, or fear.

For example, you might describe the “anger” of a thunderstorm, or the “sadness” of a wilting flower. By giving these objects human qualities, you can create a more powerful emotional response in your reader.

How to use personification effectively while writing?

One of the best ways to learn how to use personification effectively is to study examples of it in action. Below are some excerpts from well-known works that make excellent use of this literary device.

1. “The rain pattered against the windows like the footsteps of a million little spies.” -L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
2. “He had a head like a bald eagle–a noble face, keen eyes, and a beaklike nose.” -Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
3. “The room was as hot as an oven, and as stifling as the airless hold of a slave-ship.” – Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
4. “The stars shone bright overhead, and the cold wind blew through the trees with a mournful sound.” – Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle”
5. “Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.” – Faith Baldwin
6. “Death is a gentleman; he waits for an invitation.” – Edward Young 
7. “Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination.” – Voltaire
8. “Hope is a waking dream.” – Aristotle

As you can see from these personification examples, this literary device can be used to great effect in creating evocative and descriptive images. By giving objects or concepts human qualities, you can help your readers to better visualize what you’re trying to say.

Best personification examples from famous poetry

Many classic poetry examples make use of personification. This is because poetry often relies on creating vivid images and emotions in the reader, and personification can be a great way to achieve this.

One of my personal favourites is the following excerpt from William Blake’s “The Tyger”:

“Tyger! Tyger! burning bright / In the forests of the night, / What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

Here, Blake uses personification to create a sense of awe and wonder at the tiger’s majesty. By giving the tiger human qualities, he makes it seem all the more fierce and powerful.

Another great example comes from Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death”:

“Because I could not stop for Death— / He kindly stopped for me— / The Carriage held but just Ourselves— / And Immortality.”

Dickinson uses personification to create an image of Death as a gentlemanly figure who comes to take us on a journey into the afterlife. By personifying Death, she makes him seem less daunting and more relatable.

And finally, here is an excerpt from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias”:

“I met a traveller from an antique land / Who said: ‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone / Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, / Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, / And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, / Tell that its sculptor well those passions read / Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, / The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. . . .”

In this poem, Shelley uses personification to create a powerful image of the vast and empty desert. By giving the statue human qualities, he emphasizes its loneliness and isolation.

Great personification examples from the famous speeches

Some of the best orators of the world use personification to make their speeches more powerful and memorable. In the examples below, you can see how effective this device can be in creating an emotional response in the listener.

Here are some examples for you:

• “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.” – ‘I Have a Dream’ speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
• “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for our ills on old institutions or new technologies. Let us rather repair ourselves by acknowledging that the spiritual damage we have inflicted on our world is real and that we must change.” – Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech
• “And we are here to affirm that black lives matter.” – BLM protest chant

As you can see, personification can be a powerful tool for giving speeches more impact. By describing objects or concepts in human terms, you can create a more visceral emotional response in your listeners. Not only does this make your speeches more memorable, but it can also help to get your message across more effectively.

The bottom line is that ‘personification’ is a powerful tool for bringing your writing to life. When used correctly, it can help to make your writing more vivid and engaging. At GoAssignmentHelp, you can work with our experts to check out how you can make your essay writing or other types of writing more emphatic and impactful by adding personification examples.