The Pathetic Fallacy Vs Personification
One of the most common literary pitfalls that a writer can fall into is the pathetic fallacy. It’s important to understand why it occurs and how to avoid it. If you can spot it, then you will have a much better chance of writing a more effective novel.
Anthropomorphism
Pathetic fallacy is a type of literary device used to create an effect that can be felt by the reader. It can be used to foreshadow a character’s emotion or to convey a particular idea. The technique of personification, which is a subset of the pathetic fallacy, is used to describe things in a way that calls to mind human qualities.
An example of personification is the poem ‘Wind’ by Ted Hughes. In this poem, a flower dances in the wind. A sun also rises and sets, which symbolizes a new age in the land.Another example of personification is the lion in The Wizard of Oz. This anthropomorphic animal represents the main character in the story.
Another great example of a pathetic fallacy is the poem ‘Clouds’ by William Wordsworth. This poem uses a pathetic fallacy to create a eerie feeling. However, it is not meant to represent sadness.Similarly, a solar eclipse is a pathetic fallacy in the sense that it makes a day seem like night. However, it is not a pathetic fallacy to say that the sun is shining.
Appeal to pathos
Pathos is the use of strong emotions to motivate or persuade an audience. In a speech, pathos can be used with ethos and logos to make a more persuasive argument.
Pathos is not always effective as a persuasion technique. While it can evoke emotions in your audience, not all of them are convinced. The speaker must understand the nature of their audience and craft the best way to appeal to their ethos and logos.
Pathos can elicit positive and negative emotions in your audience. You may choose to appeal to empathy, pride, sadness, or anger. But you should avoid using pathos to elicit a positive emotion, as the result may only be dissuasion.
Pathos is a rhetorical device that uses vivid imagery and personal anecdotes to elicit an emotional response from your audience. Its purpose is to evoke emotions such as sympathy, empathy, and fear.
An effective way to use pathos is to use a touch of humor and surprise to the audience. Pathos is a literary device that works best when used sparingly.
Poe’s Wuthering Heights
Edgar Allan Poe is credited with using personification to create unsettling effects. The technique is a literary device that attributes human qualities to non-human objects. Personification is used in everyday speech, literature, and popular culture.
The pathetic fallacy is a similar literary device. The most obvious uses of the pathetic fallacy are in nature. It is a technique for conveying a specific idea, such as the idea of a gloomy sky or a red rose.
The pathetic fallacy is usually more indirect than the personification. When it is used, it can establish a character’s emotional state. Similarly, it can help create tension, underline events, and link the emotions of a character with things around them. In this way, the pathetic fallacy can show a difference between an inanimate object and a character.
The pathetic fallacy is used in many literary texts. However, some examples are overused and have become cliché. Unlike the personification, the pathetic fallacy does not apply to other human attributes.
Examples of pathetic fallacy in literature
The pathetic fallacy and personification are both literary devices that have become commonplace in literature. It is a way of portraying characters’ feelings by using imagery and symbolism. By placing a human face on non-human objects, a writer is able to create an atmosphere of intense emotion.
One example of pathetic fallacy is in the poem, “The Wandering Clouds,” by William Wordsworth. The poem uses a lonely cloud metaphor to describe a storm, implying that clouds may be sad. A similar approach is used in “Forest Song,” by Bob Dylan.
Another example of pathetic fallacy is in the novel, Wuthering Heights. In this novel, Cathy’s inner turmoil is reflected in a violent thunderstorm.This type of literature can also be found in movies. Examples of pathetic fallacy include Grease and High School Musical 2. Movies like these are a great way of expressing a summer theme.
The pathetic fallacy was invented by British critic John Ruskin. He believed that when authors used heightened emotion to portray something, it could influence the way people perceive something.