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Literary Element  -  Personification


“A figure of speech which gives the qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an idea. It is a comparison, which the author uses to show something in an entirely new light, to communicate a certain feeling or attitude towards it and to control the way a reader perceives it. Example: a brave handsome brute fell with a creaking rending cry--the author is giving a tree human qualities.”

                                        http://www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/yorba/literary_elements.htm    

“In poetry and fiction, the assignment of human feelings and behavior to animals, plants, or inanimate objects is called personification – an accepted literary device that can be used with great effect” (pp 533, Children’s Literature in the Elementary School).

 

Children especially tend to give human characteristics to their pets and toys.  Adults may give human characteristics to their car, a boat, or motorcycle.  Even I personify my Yukon by calling it “Old Betsy.”

 

Personification is the authors’ way of making ideas appear more vivid or extraordinary.   Through personification the author entices us to use our senses to imagine how it might sound, smell, feel, taste, or look when something is described. 

 

Snowfall

By Deborah Chandra

The leaves are gone,

The world is old,

I hear a whisper from the sky-

The dark is long,

The ground’s grown cold,

I hear the snow’s white lullaby.

She breathes it softly

Through the air,

While with her gown of flakes she sweeps

The sky, the trees, the ground grown cold,

Singing hush

Now hush.

   Now hush,

        Hush

            Sleep.                                          

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Students can practice on personification at this site.  

                    Check it out!

Personification

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Personification Jeopardy Questions


The literary element, which allows a writer to use their imagination to turn the twisted branches of a tree into a beautiful dancing ballerina?

The literary element that makes an object take on human characteristics?





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                        Genres
Autobiography 

An autobiography tells a story about oneself that focuses on important dates and events throughout ones life.  This would include the person's date of birth, family members, important friends and events.

An autobiography can include special memories, goals, favorite books, and hobbies.

When writing your autobiography it is important to write about the small details of your life.

An autobiography can also be known as a memoir.  Memoirs focus more on one aspect of a person’s life.   Memoirs focus on revealing more of the person’s feelings, experiences, and memories.

Autobiography Jeopardy Questions 

What is a self-documentation about one’s life?

What is a memoir?

     Autobiography Poem

            by Vickie

My life is great,

My life is grand,

I’ll write a book,

Oh, just look!

It’s all about me,

Not about you.

It’s my very own  _________________



Biography

A biography is an account of a person’s life that is written by someone else.

“A good biography illuminates the interaction between an individual and historical events, demonstrating how a person’s time and culture influence life even as a person influences his or her time and culture” (Cullian, Literature and the Child. pg 292). 

There are several different types of biographies.

Chronological or historical biography – the story of the person’s life is retold and the writer focuses on dates and events as the life of the person unfolds. 

                Episodic or sociological biography will focus on a certain time in a person’s life,

                which provides information about family life, education, etc. 

               Interpretive biography is created to bring a particular facet or spirit of the person’s life.

 A good biography can help children expand their knowledge of historical time.

Biographies are broken into two types of categories, historical and contemporary. Historical biographies are written about people that are no longer living.   Contemporary biographies are written about people that are still alive.   


“In children’s literature, biography often bridges the gap between historical fiction and nonfiction books” (pp 567, Children’s Literature in the Elementary School).

 

Children’s authentic biographies follow many of the same rules as biographies that are written for adults.  The are:

                        *      Well documented

*      Careful researched account of a person’s life

*     Only statements made by the person are included as dialogue

 Jean Fritz is one of the first authors that demonstrated that a biography could be authentic as well   as lively and readable.

                           And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz

                           Will You Sign Her, John Hancock? by Jean Fritz

          

“Fictionalized biography is grounded in thorough research, but the author dramatizes      certain events and personalize the subject, in contrast to the straight reporting of authentic biography” (pp 568, Children’s Literature in the Elementary School).

Children learn about the characters in a fictionalized biography through the person’s actions, deeds, and conversation.  Dialogue may be invented by the author, but is based on actual facts taken from diaries, journals, or other period sources.

 Example of fictionalized biography:

 Stone Girl, Bone Girl by Lawrence Anholt

Mary Anning and the Sea Dragons by Jeannine Atkins

                                            

“Not everyone agrees where to draw the line between fictionalized biography or memoirs and historical fiction” (pp568, Children’s Literature in the Elementary School). 

Children read biographies for the story or plot.  Children like the biography to be written like a story.  The author’s language is important because it lays in the authors hands to bring the person alive and make them sound real.   Children can relate the events and actions as real happenings.

 

Picture-Book Biographies

In picture-book form a biography might span a person’s lifetime or a part of it.

In picture-book biographies the information about the character, the event and setting are reflected in the illustrations.

          Example:  Martin Luther King by Rosemary Bray’s. 

      Illustrated by Malcah Zeldis

 

Simplified Biographies

These books have been published to meet the needs of students of beginning readers, children with low reading skills, and to allow children who are not ready for long or complex text to do independent reading. 

These biographies are usually short with many illustrations and are written with simple language.

          Example:  A Picture Book of Thomas Jefferson by David Adler

                        A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin by David Adler

 

Vocabulary Picture Biographies

         The Story of Johnny Appleseed by Aliki

 Advantages of these books:

·      Readability

·      Support provided by illustrations

Disadvantages of these books:

·      The author has to leave out many of the complexities of the character and accomplishments that make the person memorable.

 

 Partial Biographies

 This type of biography allows the author the freedom to write about only a part of a person’s life.

          Example:  Frederick Douglass, The Last Days of Slavery by William Miller.

 

Other partial biographies provide information about the person’s entire life, but focus on the more memorable events.

          Example:  Anthony Burns:  The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave by   

                         Virginia Hamiliton.

 

Complete Biographies 

This type of biography spans the person’s entire life.

          Example:  Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Russell Freedman

 

Collective Biographies

This type of biographical information provides children with a brief material about specific people or about specific events.  “Collective biographies are an ideal format for highlighting the contributions of more ordinary people whose lives might not bring with them the documentation that lends itself to the writing of full biographies” (pp 585,  Children’s Literature in the Elementary Classroom).

          Example:  The Wright Brothers:  How They Invented the Airplane 

                          by Russell Freedman


Biography Jeopardy Questions 

What type of genre is known to tell a good story about someone’s life?

What type of genre can help children expand their knowledge of historical time?


References

Cullinan, Bernice E. & Galda, Lee, (1998).  Literatura and the child, Fourth Edition.  Orlando, FL.  Harcourt Brace & Company.

Huck, Charlotte S. & Kiefer, Barbara Z. (2004).   Children’s literature in the Elementary School,  New York, NY.  McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

North, D. E. (1999).  Through the eyes of a child.  New Jersey:  Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Tompkins, G. E. (2005).  Language arts, patterns of practice.  New Jersey:  Pearson  Education.