Question

Select the sentence that uses personification.

a) The elaborate monument demanded the attention of everyone who came near it.
b) The ancient Sequoia tree buckled under the weight of its own branches.
c) Without warning, a forceful gust of wind blew through the open classroom window, scattering paper everywhere.

Answer 1

The sentence that uses personification is option (a), where the monument is described as demanding attention, which is a human characteristic given to an inanimate object.

Step-by-step explanation:

Personification is a figure of speech in which non-human objects or animals are given human qualities.

The correct answer would be option (a) “The elaborate monument demanded the attention of everyone who came near it.” This sentence attributes the human action of demanding to the non-human subject, the monument, therefore using personification.

Examples of personification are often found in literature to create vivid imagery and connect readers to the subject. In "I wandered lonely as a cloud," by Wordsworth, personification is used when the daffodils are described as tossing their heads in a dance.

Similarly, in the provided reference context, the wind is said to whistle, and the flowers are described as reeling and dancing, which are human actions attributed to non-human elements, illustrating personification.