2. Personification

3. In Beverly Cleary’s Words “Minutes crawled by. The long Oregon dusk turned into night. The girls turned on the television set to a program about people in a hospital...”

4. Can minutes really crawl? So if she wasn’t being literal, what do you think Beverly Cleary meant when she said that the minutes crawled by?

5. In Ramona Forever time went by so slowly for Ramona and her sister that it seemed like the minutes were crawling. Beverly Cleary was using a writing technique called: PERSONIFICATION

6. What is personification? Personification is when you describe nonliving things by using human actions or emotions. Sometimes a writer will give human characteristics to nonhuman things. Objects, ideas, or places may be given human qualities. They may perform human actions. It helps the writer create an exciting picture in the reader’s mind.

7. Still confused? Don’t worry – let’s look at some examples to help understand personification better.

8. For example: The window winked at me. Look at the window. Do you see it winking? No, or course you don’t. Windows can’t wink. The verb, wink, is a human action. A window is a non-living object. TaDa!!! Personification!!!!

9. The sun danced across the sky on the hot summer day. The teapot on the stove screeched when it finally got hot. The pencil screamed as the boy turned the handle on the pencil sharpener. AAHHHH!

10. The old car groaned as it made its way down the long open road. Her frown let me know she wasn’t a very happy camper. I can’t make it!

11. The tall grass danced in the breeze. The flames ate hungrily at the burning house. When I opened my dryer door, it spit out a few socks onto the floor.

12. Now you try! Read the sentence, think about the meaning, notice how personification creates a word picture. Identify the personification in each sentence. 1. The fog crept silently into the valley. 2. The tree fought the wind with its branches 3. The computer devoured information all day long. 4. The hikers left the meadow and were swallowed by the forest. Personification (figurative language) _____________ ________________ ____________________________ ___________________________________

13. Here are a few more! 5. The wind sang her mournful song through the falling leaves. 6. The microwave timer told me it was time to turn my TV dinner. 7. The video camera observed the whole scene. 8. The strawberries seemed to sing, "Eat me first!" Personification (figurative language) _____________ _ ________________________

14. Personification, Yes or No? I smiled as the wind blew on my face. The wind massaged my face. I sighed as I sat on the chair. The chair sighed and groaned as I sat on it. The vacuum made a loud noise when the janitor was vacuuming. The vacuum screamed like a banshee as the janitor vacuumed. YES NO

15. Can you think of your own example of personification for leaves falling to the ground from the tree?

16. The leaves danced to the ground The leaves hopped off the tree The leaves waved goodbye to the tree The leaves cried out in pain as they fell from the tree

17. USING PERSONIFICATION Write three sentences that use personification. Be sure to give some human quality to some nonhuman thing. Make sure to use correct capitalization and punctuation. Put your name on the paper and give it to me when you are done. Map Tap Personification (figurative language)

18. With your group, determine the object being personified and what the personification is. 1. The winter wrapped its icy claws around Northeast Pennsylvania. 2. The alarm clock screeched that it was time to get up. 3. Fear grabbed me as I heard footsteps behind me. 4. The washer sputtered and groaned as it removed the mud from the knees of my old jeans. 5. The printer spit out more copies than I needed. 6. The branches of the tree pointed to the old dirt road. 7. The flood waters swallowed the trees in one big gulp. 8. The stars winked at us from the night sky. 9. Listening to the piano sing its happy tune made me want to dance. 10. That carrot cake with the cream cheese icing is calling my name. Map Tap Personification (figurative language)

19. PERSONIFICATION PERSONIFICATION Practice Lets’ check to see if you can recognize personification. Decide whether the following are personification or not.

20. 1.) Walking desks took over town. Is it personification? Yes! Desks don’t walk. Humans do. Got it?

21. 2.) I listen to the wind. Is it personification? No! The wind is audible, but might not have human characteristics in this instance. Try another…

22. 3.) The dog stares carefully at me. Is it personification? Nope. Dogs, like you and I, can stare. Nothing especially human about it. Get that one right? How about this one!

23. 4.) The snake loves food. Is it personification? No, again! In this example, snakes loving food means they like to eat. Nothing more. Couple more…

24. 5.) Moon dances around my fear. Is it personification? Absolutely. Human beings can dance. Moons cannot. Doing well?

25. 6.) The thought lumbered around in my mind. Is it personification? Yes! Thoughts don’t generally lumber. Two more!

26. 7.) Ronnie Johnson smiles at the fox. Is it personification? No way! Ronnie Johnson is a person. The fox has nothing to do with smiling. Last one!

27. 8.) Wind whispers like a tree in the breeze Is it personification? Yes! Winds don’t whisper, people do. That was it!

28. Poets often use this form of figurative language to create exciting visual images with words.

29. Where do you see personification in this poem? Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room “Ah, William, we’re weary of weather,” said the sunflowers, shining with dew. “Our traveling habits have tired us. Can you give us a room with a view?” They arranged themselves at the window and counted the steps of the sun, and they both took root in the carpet where the topaz tortoises run. _______ ______ __________ _______ _____ ___________ _________________

30. What characteristics does this snow have? SNOW Snow speaks to the people its falling above in the glooming sunlight. Its white sparkling voice echoes as it falls through the air. By Jake

31. "Summer Grass" Summer grass aches and whispers It wants something: it calls and sings; it pours out wishes to the overhead stars. The rain hears; the rain answers; the rain is slow coming; T he rain wets the face of the grass. By Carl Sandburg

32. “April Rain Song” Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk. The rain makes running pools in the gutter. The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night. And I love the rain. by Langston Hughes