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 are worth analysing 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.