Today’s Agenda Do Now Personification Lecture Practice personifying descriptions Share some descriptions as a class Pre-writing for “personification” vignette Begin writing “personification” vignette

Creative Writing Mr. Way 11/5/13

Standards Based Instruction ELA Writing 2.1 Write fictional, autobiographical, or biographical narratives: C. Describe with concrete sensory details the sights, sounds, and smells of a scene and the specific actions, movements, gestures, and feelings of the characters; use interior monologue to depict the characters' feelings. E. Make effective use of descriptions of appearance, images, shifting perspectives, and sensory details.

SWBAT Identify instances of personification Incorporate personification appropriately into their creative writing Avoid improper use of personification

What is personification? A literary element Definition: to ascribe human emotions, actions, or characteristics to something that is not a human. Ex. A lazy breeze blew across his back as he lay in his hammock.

What is personification good for? Scenery description builds atmosphere – it to give the general vibe of the scene. Personifying aspects of the scenery allows you to use key words that set the mood. Ex. A lazy breeze blew across his back as he lay in his hammock. Although the word “lazy” is describing the breeze, it is also setting the mood for the guy lazily napping in a hammock.

Setting Mood Example 2 “A menacing bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. As the thunder threatened to shatter my windows, I tried to listen for his footsteps. I knew it wouldn’t be long before our final confrontation.” See how the description of the storm tells us that the confrontation will be dangerous/threatening?

Example 3 “As I stood alone in the basement, I could feel the shadows breathing down my neck.” Shadows don’t actually breathe, but this gives us the sense that the person is feeling paranoid, as though there’s somebody behind them.

When To Use Personification Personification is used to set the mood. Therefore, you will want to use it when: The mood is relevant The mood is changing Remember, every sentence should either advance the action or reveal character.

Perspective and Personification I advise that you avoid using personification when you are narrating from third person perspective. Third person is usually an omniscient being talking, and so it should just give the facts as much as possible.

Perspective and Personification 2 If it’s a character from the story narrating, however, the way they personify things reveals their character as well as setting mood Ex. “Through a hole in the clouds, I felt the reassuring warmth of the sun against my tear-stained cheeks, as though old Sol knew what I had just gone through.”

Summary Personification is an excellent tool for setting mood. Don’t overuse it. If done too often, it starts seeming cheap. Personification is best when it’s a character using it, because they’re talking about their own experiences, rather than facts.