personification

Definition:

A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is given human qualities or abilities. See also:

• What Is Personification?
• Personification in Motherless Brooklyn
• "On a Rainy Morning," by C. S. Brooks
• "Story of a Garden," by Mabel Wright
• Progymnasmata

Examples and Observations:

• As personifications of their respective nations, England and the U.S., John Bull and Uncle Sam became popular during the 19th century.



• The wind stood up and gave a shout.
  He whistled on his fingers and
  
  Kicked the withered leaves about
  And thumped the branches with his hand
  
  And said he'd kill and kill and kill,
  And so he will and so he will.
  (James Stephens, "The Wind")



• "The operation is over. On the table, the knife lies spent, on its side, the bloody meal smear-dried upon its flanks. The knife rests."
  (Richard Selzer, "The Knife")



• "Personification, with allegory, was the literary rage in the 18th century, but it goes against the modern grain and today is the feeblest of metaphorical devices."
  (Rene Cappon, Associated Press Guide to News Writing, 2000)



• "Only the champion daisy trees were serene. After all, they were part of a rain forest already two thousand years old and scheduled for eternity, so they ignored the men and continued to rock the diamondbacks that slept in their arms. It took the river to persuade them that indeed the world was altered."
  (Toni Morrison, Tar Baby)



• "The road isn't built that can make it breathe hard!"
  (slogan for Chevrolet automobiles)



• "Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. There was no one there."
  (proverb quoted by Christopher Moltisanti, The Sopranos)



• "Oreo: Milk’s favorite cookie."
  (slogan on a package of Oreo cookies)



• "The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it's time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!"
  (Homer Simpson, The Simpsons)

Pronunciation: per-SON-if-i-KAY-shun