In a nutshell: A writer uses personification or pathetic fallacy to make the world feel alive and full of feeling.
You already read the world this way.
💬 You say your phone is ‘being difficult’, or that a grey Monday ‘feels miserable’. You give feelings to things that don't have them. Writers do exactly this — to pull you into a mood.
Here are the two kinds, each with an example:
One clear example of each
Personification
Gives human qualities to a thing, animal or idea: ‘the wind screamed through the trees.’ Wind can't scream — the human verb makes it feel alive and threatening.
Pathetic fallacy
Uses weather or nature to mirror a mood: ‘the sky wept as she left.’ The rain matches her sadness, so the setting carries the feeling.
How they differ
Personification can be any human quality on any thing; pathetic fallacy is the narrower trick of matching weather or nature to a character's mood.
The key move: Name it (personification or pathetic fallacy), point to the human quality or the mood the weather mirrors, and say what feeling it builds.
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Why it matters in the exam: These techniques earn marks when you link them to feeling. Say which human quality the writer gives a thing, or which mood the weather mirrors, and what that makes the reader feel — not just ‘the writer uses personification’.
Analyse the techniques: “The storm hammered the roof and the old house groaned. Outside, the rain fell harder the moment she read the letter.”
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Watch out: Don't just label ‘personification’. Say which human quality the thing is given, or which mood the weather mirrors, and what feeling it creates.