personnification

Personification is a figure of speech in which human qualities, emotions, or actions are attributed to non-human things, such as objects, animals, or abstract concepts. It allows writers to convey ideas in a vivid, relatable way by casting inanimate things as if they could think, feel, and act like people.

In literature and rhetoric, personification appears in poetry, fables, myths, and everyday speech. Examples include "The wind whispered through the trees," or "Justice is blind," where abstractions or natural phenomena take on human characteristics for emphasis or mood. In religious or mythological contexts, personified forces like Fortune or Death are given motives and personalities to illustrate moral lessons or fate.

Relation to other figures: Personification is a form of metaphor that uses a human agent to represent non-human things. It is distinct from anthropomorphism, which ascribes not only human qualities but also human physical form and behavior to animals, deities, or objects, often across all aspects of being. A related device is prosopopoeia, where an absent or non-human entity is allowed to speak as if it were present.

Historical and cross-cultural usage: Ancient poets and allegorists frequently used personification to argue moral or political points (e.g., Lady Fortune, Death). In modern literature and media, personification remains common in speeches, branding, and animation.

Evaluation: It can enhance imagery and thematic resonance but may oversimplify complex ideas or lead to clichés if overused.