Literary Device: Personification

1
Literary Device Personification

• Personification is a literary technique in which
  inanimate objects or abstractions (ideas) are
  endowed with human qualities or are represented
  as possessing human form and/or self-awareness.
• Example The mouth of the river perpetually
  spits water into the sea.

2
Mirror Sylvia Plath

• I am silver and exact. I have no
  preconceptions.Whatever I see, I swallow
  immediately.Just as it is, unmisted by love or
  dislikeI am not cruel, only truthful The eye
  of a little god, four-cornered.Most of the time
  I meditate on the opposite wall.It is pink, with
  speckles. I have looked at it so longI think it
  is a part of my heart. But it flickers.Faces and
  darkness separate us over and over.Now I am a
  lake. A woman bends over me.Searching my reaches
  for what she really is.Then she turns to those
  liars, the candles or the moon.I see her back,
  and reflect it faithfullyShe rewards me with
  tears and an agitation of hands.I am important
  to her. She comes and goes.Each morning it is
  her face that replaces the darkness.In me she
  has drowned a young girl, and in me an old
  womanRises toward her day after day, like a
  terrible fish.

3
Mirror Authors Purpose

• What two things are personified within the poem?
  (Hint Notice the title of the poem.)
• A _______ and a _____.
• Select at least three adjectives describing the
  emotional state or tone of each object

mirror
lake
Stanza 1 Stanza 2



Truthful
Faithful
Lonely
Important
Exact
Isolated
4
Mirror Authors Purpose

• How are these personified objects similar? What
  are their differences within the
  poem?__________________________________________
  ________________________________________
• What are the implications of the phrase drowned
  a young girl and the simile like a terrible
  fish at the end of the poem?___________________
  _________________________________________________
  _________________________________________________
  ______

Both the mirror and the lake seem to be hungry
for interaction. But only the mirror seems
unappreciated and unnoticed.
Both poetic phrases point toward the changing
nature of the lakes reflection and, more
importantly and directly, the female figures
ever-altering face reflected there.
5
Mirror Authors Purpose

• What could both of the personified objects within
  the poem represent or symbolize?________________
  _________________________________________________
  _________________
• _________________________________________
• What is the authors overall poetic purpose or
  message? How does the personification support
  and develop this poetic theme?__________________
  __________________________________________________
  _________________________________________________
  _______________________________________________

Keeping in mind that Sylvia Plath was a feminist
poet, the mirror and lake could represent the
race that females often run against the onslaught
of time in terms of physical beauty.
Sylvia Plath is exploring the strain of a
culturally-heightened human struggle with time.
By seeing this transformation from these
personified perspectives the reader receives a
true reflection exact and unmisted by emotion.
6
Answer the essay question below

• In Sylvia Plaths Mirror, the author explores
  the passage of time through the lens of
  personified objects. In a well-organized
  response, complete with relevant text evidence
  and commentary, pinpoint how the poet utilizes
  personification and symbolism to develop her
  poetic theme.

Red Major Writing Task Blue Minor
Insights/Instructions