"Apostrophe is a device by which a speaker begins to address an audience other than the one to which he or she is speaking.

Like aporia, it is part of the irony family. In the middle section of his 1860 address at Cooper Union in New York, [Abraham] Lincoln purported to 'say a few words' to the people of the South. In so doing, he spoke to his New York audience by using fictional southern listeners as a frame. . . . Apostrophe is not necessarily restricted to oral communication. A newspaper ad from a tobacco company purportedly directed at young people, but appearing in the business or editorial section of the newspaper, uses young people as a frame through which to reach a different audience." (James Jasinksi, Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetorical Studies. Sage, 2001) "O stranger of the future! O inconceivable being! whatever the shape of your house, however you scoot from place to place, no matter how strange and colorless the clothes you may wear, I bet nobody likes a wet dog either. I bet everyone in your pub, even the children, pushes her away." (Billy Collins, "To a Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years from Now") This is when a character or narrator talks to something that cannot reply, such as an object. A famous example would be when Hamlet talks to Yorick's skull.

Apostrophe
Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character.

Personification
endowment of inanimate objects or abstract concepts with animate or living qualities. A figure of speech in which ideas are represented as as a person or creature and attributed with personality and human characteristics. Personification in Poems & Poetry Personification is the treating of an inanimate object as if it were animate and is probably the most beautiful and effective of all the figures of speech. Personification depends much on a vivid imagination and is adapted especially to poetical composition. It has two distinguishable forms: when personality is ascribed to the inanimate as in "The mountains sing together, the hills rejoice and clap their hands." when some quality of life is attributed to the inanimate; as, a raging storm; an angry sea; a whistling wind, etc. http://www.examples-help.org.uk/examples-of-personification-poems.htm Personification is a figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to an abstract quality, animal, or inanimate object.

Personification A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

Examples Notice the use of personification in William Blake's poem below: Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room. "Ah, William, we're weary of weather," said the sunflowers, shining with dew. "Our traveling habits have tired us. Can you give us a room with a view?" They arranged themselves at the window and counted the steps of the sun, and they both took root in the carpet where the topaz tortoises run. William Blake (1757-1827) The wind stood up and gave a shout. He whistled on his fingers and Kicked the withered leaves about And thumped the branches with his hand And said he'd kill and kill and kill, And so he will! And so he will! (James Stephens, "The Wind")xamples: "Time let me play / and be golden in the mercy of his m http://www.ehow.com/list_7734876_personification-activities-elementary-students.html http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/apostrophe.htm

Cartoon Characters

Teachers should present examples of personification in different forms of literature. Students preview the books and other materials to locate personification examples. Since children enjoy cartoons, this type of literature provides a great example of personification. Students see how the writers give human characteristics, or traits, to animal characters. Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny portray typical cartoon characters who speak and show emotions like people. Animals, shown as super heroes, help kids understand personification in its simplest form. After a class discussion about the various ways to use personification in cartoons, each student will create, draw and personify a cartoon animal.