Personification & Anthropomorphism

 Personification  Anthropomorphism

the projection of characteristics that                refers to something nonhuman    normally belong only to humans onto behaving as human. Examples:

--> inanimate objects --> Black Beauty

--> animals --> Winnie the Pooh

--> man-made deities --> Animal Farm (Orwell)

--> forces of nature  --> the flying car in HP

Personification is figurative.
Anytime someone refers to the wind howling or a premonition like cold fingers up a spine . . . .

that is personification.

When you feel like chocolate is calling your name or your bed is looking at you invitingly . . . .

that is personification.

You can also represent abstract concepts through personification.

Because people deserve equal treatment under the law, justice must be blind.

We refer to Father Time and Death with human-like characteristics.

EXAMPLES:
Justice is blind.
The sun smiled down on them.
The stars winked.
The party died down.
The city never sleeps
The wind howled.
The car sputtered and coughed before starting.

The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent to their plans.

AN EXAMPLE FROM LITERATURE: Her heart was divided between concern for her sister, and resentment against all the others.   ~Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Anthropomorphism is literal.
This literary technique usually needs some developing to become truly anthropomorphic.

Speaking animals or objects who talk, think, or behave like humans are all

anthropomorphic.

Think of Thomas the Tank Engine, Winnie the Pooh, or Peter Rabbit.
They literally act as if they are human. This is anthropomorphism.

With anthropomorphism the non-human entities actually do human things.

They might:

--> talk

--> fall in love

--> wiggle their eyebrows in concern

--> ponder, think, muse, decipher

--> generally behave the way people behave

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It is easy to distinguish between these two types of figurative language.

The tree branches danced in the wind. (personification)

The tree branches danced in the wind beckoning the traveler to step closer to the trap.

(anthropomorphism)

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More definitions and examples:

Unlike personification, anthropomorphism is not just a metaphor.

For example, the Greek god Poseidon is an anthropomorphic (human-formed) symbol for the sea, and similarly Aeolus is an anthropomorphic symbol for the wind.

It is an extended symbol that goes to the essence of who the character is. 

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Personification gives particular human traits to nonhuman or abstract things, or represents a quality or concept in human form. (<--"Justice is blind")

Anthropomorphism refers to something nonhuman behaving as human.