How can I distinguish personification from anthropomorphism for my 13 year old son (and myself)?

The Writing Aids definition for personification is "attributing the traits of a person to inanimate objects." The WA definition of anthropomorphism is "the association of human traits with inanimate or bodiless entities." Those 2 definitions seem to be almost the same thing.

Also, what do you call it when an animal or animate object is given human traits (such as in Aesop's Fables)?

Sincerely,

Beth Ann

I did a bit more research with various dictionaries and I think I might be closer to understanding the difference between personfication and anthropomorphism. Here are a few definitions:

personification, noun.1. a striking example; embodiment; type. Ex. A miser is the personification of greed. (SYN) exemplification. 2. the act or fact of representing as a person, such as speaking of the sun as he and the moon as she. In John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Mr. Worldly-Wiseman and Mr. Good-will are personifications. 3. a person or creature imagined as representing a thing or idea. Ex. Satan is the personification of evil. 4. a figure of speech in which a lifeless thing or quality is spoken of as if alive. (Examples The music sobbed. Duty calls us. There Honour comes, a pilgrim grey (William Collins).


anthropomorphism, noun. the act or practice of attributing human form or qualities to gods, animals, or things.


Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena



So I think it maybe that personification occurs when some non-human entity is portrayed as a person (as a whole being) while anthropomorphism is just the assigning of human [B]traits, feelings or behaviors[/B to the inanimate object.

Please let me know if I understand that wrongly or anyone has insights to share.

Sincerely,

Beth Ann

Thanks, Beth - I appreciate your sharing with us. Inquiring minds want to know!
Blessings,
April

Hi,
Just thought I'd add some info on this slightly confusing subject. The lines between the two have begun to blur over the years and the two terms are often mixed up now, even in reference book examples.
Here is a clarification:
• Personification was originally a literary technique in which a person or creature was imagined as representing a thing or idea.
• The act or fact of representing as a person, such as speaking of the sun as he and the moon as she. It is a figure of speech wherein an idea, an object, or some other inanimate entity is represented as though it were a person:
• It now commonly extends to include animals, objects, or even abstract concepts when they are given human qualities and characteristics, thus confusing it with anthropmorphism.
• figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstract ideas are endowed with human qualities. John Ruskin termed sentimentalized, exaggerated personification the “pathetic fallacy.”
•NOUN: 1. The act of personifying. 2. A person or thing typifying a certain quality or idea; an embodiment or exemplification 3. A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form. Also called prosopopeia. 4. Artistic representation of an abstract quality or idea as a person.


EXAMPLES:
•Though the Happy Medium is a character in the novel, in what way does she personify the concept of a “happy medium”? How does the Happy Medium’s planet also reflect the concept of “medium”?
•Satan is the personification of evil.
•In John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Mr. Worldly-Wiseman and Mr. Good-will are personifications of concepts.
•There Honour comes, a pilgrim grey (William Collins).
•e.g., allegorical morality plays where characters include Good Deeds, Beauty, and Death
•“He's invisible, a walking personification of the Negative” (Ralph Ellison).
•Hunger sat shivering on the road.
•Then Lechery appeared, leering and making lewd gestures toward his audience.


Anthropomorphism:
(an-thruh-puh-MORE-fiz-umm [Gr.,=having human form]
•Firstly, anthropmorphism commonly refers to inanimate objects or animals being given actual human characteristics. Think of Bugs Bunny or The Little Engine that Could walking and talking, or feeling human emotion. Many books anthropomorphize animals as human-like characters (think Redwall and Aesop's Fables).

•Secondly, THE DIFFERENCE?
In a literary sense, there is a difference between ascribing human traits to an object /ascribing human attributes to something that isn't human(anthropomorphism), or to an abstract concept /designating something as the embodiment of something else.(personification)

•Thirdly, the definition:
•Anthropomorphism is the act or practice of attributing human form or qualities to gods, animals, or things.
•A figure of speech in which a lifeless thing or quality is spoken of as if alive/ The attributing of human characteristics and purposes to inanimate objects, animals, plants, or other natural phenomena.


Examples:
•The music sobbed.
•Duty calls us.
•Flowers danced about the lawn.
•To describe a rushing river as “angry” is to anthropomorphize it.

Hi Beth Ann! I've been exactly where you were with that confusing distinction between anthropomorphism and personification, and I just want to encourage you that (at least from my research) where you would up is EXACTLY right. :-D That's pretty much the distinction that we wound up making in Tapestry Literature studies as well, so please be further encouraged that if you teach it that way to your student for writing, sooner or later it will count double for Literature (I'm thinking particularly of our Rhetoric level study of Pilgrim's Progress in Year 2)!

God bless,
Christy Somerville