Personification shares similarities with other literary devices, including metaphors and anthromorphism.
A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things without using "like" or "as." Personification is a type of metaphor where human qualities are given to nonhuman things. So, all personification is metaphor, but not all metaphors are personification.
For example, "The cat's meow is music to my ears" is a metaphor, but it's not personification because it compares the meow to music, not by giving human qualities to the meow itself. If it were "The cat serenaded me with its nightly meows," that would be called personification.
Anthropomorphism is another literary device that's similar to personification, but anthromorphism goes a step further by creating characters. Anthropomorphism gives nonhuman things actual human form or behavior, which typically includes talking, wearing clothes and having complex social lives.
Think of children's stories, such as "Toy Story," when the race car and toy dinosaur become sad at the thought of being left behind.
Personification, by contrast, uses the human characteristics to create imagery or add emotional depth. The effectiveness of personification often depends on the literary context. A phrase like "the angry storm" might feel cliché in a weather report but resonate deeply within a dramatic narrative.
