Allusion

Definition

Allusion, in literature, is a figure of speech, which refers to a brief implied or indirect reference to a person, event, thing, or to a part of another text. In other words, allusion is an inexplicit hint to some piece of knowledge that the author presumes the reader will know. Most allusions serve to illustrate or expand upon or enhance a subject. For example:

“She is another Helen”

In the above sentence the subject has been expanded by alluding to Helen of Troy, a mythological figure who was well-known for her matchless beauty. Therefore, the aforesaid allusion implies that the subject is outstandingly beautiful.

Etymology

The term allusion was borrowed into English in the middle of the 16th century. It derives from the late Latin word allūsiō meaning “a play on words” or “game” and is a derivative of the Latin word allūdere, meaning “to play with” or “to refer to” or “to joke”.

Derivatives

Noun: allusiveness
Verb: Allude
Adjective: allusive
Adverb: allusively

Discussion

Allusion presents a reference in a literary work to something outside of the work. It functions on the basis of background knowledge of the reader, usually on a famous literary or historical person, place or event, or ancient stories, or other literary work. Although little details are provided, the referenced phenomena are readily recognizable by the audience for their historical, literary, or cultural significance. Most frequently allusions are made to past events such as, references to the Bible and Greek or Roman mythology. However, allusions may also be made to contemporary persons or events. Although incompliant with traditional definition, less frequently allusion may also present a reference to something inside of the work.

Allusions are often used within a metaphor or simile. Such a comparison alludes to an event or person that every individual should understand without much explanation. For example: “Your backyard is a Garden of Eden.” (Metaphor); “Your backyard is like a Garden of Eden.” (Simile)

Types

Based on the above discussion allusions could be categorized in the following manner:

1. External Allusion: This is the principal and most traditional allusion type. It is called external allusion since it refers to something outside of the text. The audience can easily catch an external allusion since it refers to a person, thing, or event which has been popularly known for an extensive period of time. External allusions are of four types:

1. Biblical Allusion: A brief and indirect reference to something in the Bible, which may include a particular scripture, character, or story. For instance, “You are a Solomon when it comes to making decisions.”
2. Literary Allusion: An indirect reference to other famous literary works. Often literary allusion is employed to refer to a separate story, legend, myth, and mythological or literary character. For example, “He was a real Romeo with the ladies”; “Chocolate was her Achilles’ heel.”
3. Historical Allusion: An indirect reference to history such as, a historical event, character, etc. For example, “He was acting more like Franklin Roosevelt than Adolf Hitler.”
4. Pop Culture Allusion: Also called cultural allusion. An indirect reference to a person, place, or event within a specific community or culture. Most cultural allusions are made from popular songs, movies, cartoon shows, TV shows, video games, etc. For example, “You are acting just like Mr. Magoo!”

2. Internal Allusion: This is a less frequent allusion type. It is called internal allusion since the author refers to something that has been mentioned in the same work earlier. Internal allusions are hard to catch since the referenced knowledge either lacks popularity or its usage is restricted in the current work only.

Related Terms

1. Foreshadowing: Foreshadowing refers to something that hasn’t happened yet. With this device the author gives clues about events that will happen later in the story. Often these clues are so subtle that they can only be noticed or fully understood upon a second reading.
2. Quotation:  Quotation is a group of words taken from a text or speech and repeated by someone other than the original author in another text. The quoted expression is usually explicitly attributed by citation to its original source, and it is punctuated with quotation marks.
3. Citation: Citation is the way by which a formal reference is made to another text. It gives the readers information necessary to validate the source of a fact, or quotation used from another text. With a sharp contrast to allusion, citation is always explicit and direct.

Advantages

• Allusions enable the writer to express an idea or emotion in a condensed and simple manner.
• Allusions increase the trustworthiness of an argument.
• Allusions help the reader to understand new information such as characters, setting, plot, etc. by relating them to previous knowledge.
• The religious, mythological, and cultural references make the story more engaging and help the reader grasp the message of the text.
• Allusions make a story grand, fanciful, funny, and surprising.

Disadvantages

The chief disadvantage of allusion stems from its manner of description, which involves a brief reference to a person, thing, or event. Therefore, in order to understand an allusion the audience must have a prior knowledge of the stated reference. If the audience is unaware of it then he will fail to understand the author’s intended message. In such case the text will surely lose its coherence. Hence, sometimes allusions may appear suitable for cultured or educated audience only.

Allusion, delusion, or illusion?

Although sound closest, allusion and illusion are dissimilar in meaning. While allusion is an indirect reference to a person, thing, or event, an illusion is a false or misleading impression or perception, either by the senses or by the mind. Contrariwise, delusion refers to false idea or belief caused by mental illness rather than a wrong impression that somebody receives.

 

References

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. USA: H & H, 1999

"Allusion”. Literary Devices. 2016. Literary Devices. 18 September 2016< http://literarydevices.net/allusion/>.

"Allusion”. Literary Terms. 2016. Literary Terms. 18 September 2016< http://literaryterms.net/allusion/>.

"Allusion”. Wikipedia. 2016. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 18 September 2016

< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion >.

"Allusion Examples”. Softschools. 2016. Softschools.com. 18 September 2016

< http://www.softschools.com/examples/grammar/allusion_examples/115/>.

"Examples of Allusion”. YourDictionary. 2016. LoveToKnow, Corp. 18 September 2016

< http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-allusion.html>.

Griffith, Benjamin W. A Pocket Guide to Literature and Language Terms. New York: Barron's, 1976

Gupta, A.N. and Satis Gupta. A Dictionary of English Literature. 2nd ed. Bareilly: PBD, 1995

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Personification

Definition

Personification is a frequently employed figure of speech in literature. With this device, the human traits are attributed to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. More specifically, personification refers to treating objects and intangible things as persons without giving them human shape.

Let us consider the following instance of personification to understand its structure:

“Love stabbed him in the heart"

In the above sentence, the subject "love" is an abstract idea while the verb "stab" is a human-specific attribute. The aforesaid human attribute has been transferred into the subject to realize the personification process. The output is a personified version of "love" along with its still-intact nonhuman form. Herein "love" is conceived as if it were a living person and is capable of stabbing someone's heart. The structure of  personification can be further clarified by the following illustration:

Types

Based on the different cases of occurrences, personification could be classified in the following manner:

1. Non-human entities performing human actions: e.g. "The flowers danced in the gentle breeze"; "The pistol glared at me from its holster".
2. Non-human entities expressing human emotions: e.g. "The sea was boiling with rage"; "The trees sighed in the wind".
3. Abstract ideas are given human qualities: e.g. "Hunger sat shivering on the road"; "Misfortune never comes alone".

Determinants of Personification

• A careful reading of sentences.
• Identifying words containing a nonliving object or idea in the sentences.
• Identifying description of any lifeless entity treated as living a person.
• Identification of any implied meaning against any inanimate object or ideas.
• Analyzing the imagery in the passages thoroughly.
• Identification of a comparison between an object or idea with human traits.

Function

• Personification gives life to lifeless entities.
• Personification generates vivid imagery.
• Personification helps to emphasize a certain point.
• Personification makes the text more dramatic and complex.
• Personification increases the reader's interest in the story and helps to retain his attention till the end.
• Personification incorporates deeper meanings to ordinary objects.
• Personification inspires the audience to see things from different angles.
•  Personification helps to express human thoughts and motivations in a creative way.
• Personification makes an abstraction clearer and more real to the reader by defining or explaining the concept in terms of everyday human action.

Related Forms

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is an extended form of personification in which human shape, traits, and actions or abilities are attributed to nonhuman things and beings like animals, deities, and lifeless objects. To be specific, anthropomorphism is the treating of animals and objects as if they were human in appearance, character, or behaviour.

The word anthropomorphism derives from the Greek words ánthrōpos, meaning "human" and morphē, meaning "shape" or "form". The term originally used to give human qualities to a deity. The Greeks and Romans used the idea in stories about their gods to bestow them human traits. Anthropomorphism is a recurring personification device in Aesop's Fables by the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop.  In English literature this device has been employed in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (1865), Anna Sewell's Black Beauty (1877), Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1894), George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945), etc. Anthropomorphism has always been a favourite device for cartoonists. Some notable classic anthropomorphic cartoon characters include Mickey Mouse (1928), Goofy (1932), Daffy Duck (1937), Bugs Bunny (1938), Garfield (1978), etc. A more contemporary example includes SpongeBob, the title character in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999).

Personification Vs Anthropomorphism

In the majority of mainstream definitions, the terms are used interchangeably and the result is an overlap of functions from the both ends.  Even most teachers, as well as students, are unfamiliar with the term anthropomorphism. What teachers label as personification in classrooms is actually a hybrid of personification and anthropomorphism. Again, the majority of textbooks also present a mixed-up definition.

Although their functions appear to be analogous from a general point of view, in essence, they exhibit slight differences:

Sl. #	Personification	Anthropomorphism
1.	Personification is the attribution of human characteristics such as emotions, sensations, etc. to abstract ideas like love, hate, anger, death, peace, etc.	Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics and qualities to animals, deities and objects.
2.	Personification occurs when human characteristics are ascribed to non-human entities without altering their non-human form.	Anthropomorphism occurs when a non-human entity fully and clearly embodies human traits, emotions and personalities, including a human form. That means anthropomorphized subjects look like human and they can walk, talk and act like humans.
3.	Personification is a narrower term since its coverage of association of human traits is limited to object and abstract ideas only.	Anthropomorphism is a much broader term since it can associate human traits to a wide variety of subjects, including animals, deities, natural and supernatural phenomena, and objects.
4.	The imagery drawn by personification presents a connotative or figurative meaning.	The imagery drawn by anthropomorphism presents a literal meaning.
5.	Personification is gender-neutral since we can describe an object without naming it or specifying its gender.	Anthropomorphism is gender-specific since we use the name and ascribe gender-specific human shape to describe animals, objects, etc.

Pathetic Fallacy

The term pathetic fallacy was coined by John Ruskin in 1856. It is the technique for ascribing the mood and temperament of one or more characters in relation to a natural phenomenon. For example,

 “The sky darkened as the young damsel wailed for her deceased lover.”

In the above instance, the human emotion “wailing” has been attributed to a natural phenomenon i.e., the “sky” in order to reflect the character’s state of mind.

Pathetic Fallacy Vs Personification

Personification is often confused with pathetic fallacy, which is illogical since it is distinct and different form personification in terms of function:

Sl. #	Pathetic Fallacy	Personification
1.	Pathetic fallacy describes a temperament of the human mind referring to nature.	Personification is used to convey a human emotion or quality directly attributing it to an object or abstract idea.
2.	Pathetic fallacy often occurs by accident.	Personification occurs on purpose.
3.	Pathetic fallacy is a narrower term since it ascribes human quality only to natural phenomena like the weather.	Personification is a broader term since its attribution of human ideas is not only restricted to objects but also to abstract ideas.

Apostrophe

Apostrophe refers to a direct address to an absent person (either dead or alive), inanimate or abstract entity as if the addressee is capable of understanding the addresser's feelings. The word "O" is often used to indicate such an invocation.

A classic example of apostrophe includes John Donne’s Death, be not proud (1609), where the speaker talks to death throughout the poem as if it were a person capable of comprehending his feelings:

“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.”

In his 1807 poem London, 1802  the English poet William Wordsworth apostrophizes the dead poet John Milton:

“Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;”

Shelley employs apostrophe in his celebrated poem Ode to the West Wind (1820):

“O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,”

The following illustration demonstrates how an absent addressee is being apostrophized by the addressee:

Apostrophe Vs Personification

Apostrophe is different from personification to the following extent:

Sl. #	Apostrophe	Personification
1.	An apostrophe makes reference to something or somebody who is absent in the scene.	In personification, the object under reference does not necessarily need to be absent from the scene.
2.	Persons, objects, and abstractions are directly addressed as if they can understand human emotion.	Objects and ideas are attributed to human qualities.

Metaphor Vs Personification

Although both metaphor and personification is a type of comparison, yet they apply different techniques. In metaphor, a comparison is made between two different objects with an implication that they are similar on single or some common characteristics. On the other hand, in personification human characteristics are attributed to an object or idea to describe it as human with an implication that they are literally the same thing.

References

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7^th ed. USA: H & H, 1999

" Anthropomorphism”. Shmoop. 2016. Shmoop University. 2 August 2016

< http://www.shmoop.com/literature-glossary/anthropomorphism.html>.

“Anthropomorphism.” Microsoft Encarta. DVD-ROM. Redmond: Microsoft, 2005.

“Apostrophe (figure of speech)”. Wikipedia. 2016. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 2 August 2016

< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe_(figure_of_speech)>.

" Characterization”. Wikipedia. 2016. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 2 August 2016

< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism>.

Griffith, Benjamin W. A Pocket Guide to Literature and Language Terms. New York: Barron's, 1976

" Personification”. Literary Devices. 2016. Literary Devices. 2 August 2016

< http://www.literarydevices.com/personification/>.

" Personification”. Literary Devices. 2016. Literary Devices. 2 August 2016

< http://literarydevices.net/personification/>.

" Personification”. Simple English Wikipedia. 2016. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 2 August 2016

< https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personification>.

“Pathetic Fallacy”. Wikipedia. 2016. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 2 August 2016

< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathetic_fallacy>.

“Metaphor”. Tanvir’s Blog. 2016. Tanvir Shameem. 2 August 2016

< http://tanvirdhaka.blogspot.com/2014/09/metaphor.html>.

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