How do you make a mental image stronger when you’re

reading?

In this lesson, you will learn to make a mental image stronger

by finding examples of personification.

Let’s Review

Descriptive words in poetry put pictures in our minds.

A Common Mistake

Thinking too literally

Core LessonCore Lesson

Personification is when a writer give a human trait to something that is not

human.

Core LessonCore Lesson

Who Has Seen the Wind? Who has seen the wind?Neither I nor you:But when the leaves hang trembling,The wind is passing through. Who has seen the wind?Neither you nor I:But when the trees bow down their heads,The wind is passing by. Christina Rossetti 

What’s happening here that only people can do?

The tree is bowing like a

person.

Core LessonCore Lesson

Who Has Seen the Wind? Who has seen the wind?Neither I nor you:But when the leaves hang trembling,The wind is passing through. Who has seen the wind?Neither you nor I:But when the trees bow down their heads,The wind is passing by. Christina Rossetti 

When, why, or how do people

normally do this?

People bow out of respect.

I think the trees are bowing because they respect the power of the wind.

Core LessonCore Lesson

Find an example of personification.1

2 Ask yourself, “When, why, or how do people normally do this?”

3 Write your new ideas about yourmental image.

In this lesson, you have learned how to make a mental

image stronger by finding examples of personification.

Guided Practice

Can you find an example of personification in the poem, “The Sky is Low” by Emily Dickinson?

The Sky is Low

The sky is low, the clouds are mean,A traveling flake of snowAcross a barn or through a rutDebates if it will go.

A narrow wind complains all dayHow some one treated him;Nature, like us, is sometimes caughtWithout her diadem.

Emily Dickinson

Extension Activities

Read through the poem ““The Sky is Low” by Emily Dickinson again.

Find other examples of personification in the poem.

What conclusions can you draw?

Extension Activities

Write your own poem that uses personification.

How does personification make your poem better or more interesting to read?

Quick QuizQuick Quiz

Find another example of personification in “Who Has Seen the Wind?”

How do you know it’s personification?

Who Has Seen the Wind? Who has seen the wind?Neither I nor you:But when the leaves hang trembling,The wind is passing through. Who has seen the wind?Neither you nor I:But when the trees bow down their heads,The wind is passing by. Christina Rossetti