Personification or Not in Poetry Lines

Start with the poetry lines sheet so students can spot the device, then move to the city scene to connect it with mood. Finish with the two writing sheets.

Decide which lines about the sea, a city and a desert use personification and underline the human trait. Personification gives a human action, feeling, or trait to something that is not human, such as the sea, a building, or the wind. The directions on the page read: These lines come from poems about the sea, a city, and a desert. Circle P if the line uses personification or N if it does not. For each P line, underline the human quality. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade comprehension exercises, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

Personification gives a human action, feeling or trait to something that is not human. The tide comes back and steals our footprints is one example from the poetry lines sheet.

The human actions a writer chooses carry feelings. Traffic lights standing on duty for no one and a truck that yawns make a city at night feel tired and lonely.

Yes, if the human action does not change the fact. Personification in Science Writing for Effect has students rewrite facts about glaciers, cells and tides and then name the fact each sentence keeps.