What is personification?

Personification is a literary device in which human qualities or traits are attributed to an object, animal, or abstract concept. This technique allows writers to create vivid imagery and convey emotions by giving life-like characteristics to non-human elements. For instance, saying "the wind whispered through the trees" gives the wind the human ability to whisper, thus evoking a sensory and emotional response from the reader.

This choice captures the essence of personification, as it illustrates how writers can make descriptions more relatable and impactful by integrating human attributes into non-human subjects. The other options refer to different literary techniques: exaggeration (hyperbole), direct comparisons (simile or metaphor), and factual representations (realism), none of which align with the definition of personification.