Literary Devices Literary Devices    

Lesson 18: Personification: She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms

by Emily Dickinson

Performer: Librivox - Jannie Meisberger

Directions

Study the poem for one week.

Over the week:

• Read or listen to the poem.
• Review the synopsis.
• Read about the poet.
• Complete the enrichment activities.

Synopsis

Emily Dickinson's charming 'She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms,' personifies the sun. Dickinson compares the setting sun with a housewife who sweeps her house at the end of the day. The rays of light are compared to the broom, which leaves behind fragments, or the colors of the sunset. The housewife's white apron represents the flying clouds. The broom and its colorful fragments slowly fade away into stars as night approaches.

Concepts

Poets often use literary devices, defined as 'rules of thumb, convention, or structure that are employed in literature and storytelling.'

The nine literary devices we'll study include:

1. Rhyming
2. Alliteration
3. Similes
4. Metaphors
5. Personification
6. Foreshadowing
7. Allusion
8. Hyperbole
9. Onomatopoeia

Personification is a literary device in which an inanimate object or an idea is given human qualities.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite Poem Information

Recite the title of the poem and the name of the poet.

Activity 2: Study the Poem Picture

Study the poem picture and describe how it relates to the poem. How does the image differ from the poem?

Activity 3: Recite the Poem

Practice reciting the poem aloud.

Activity 4: Identify Personification in the Examples

Read aloud the examples below and identify the object being personified.

• The ocean waved a frothy farewell.
• The fire hissed angrily as I doused it with water.
• The bird sang a lovely tune, imploring me to come outside.
• The parched earth drank up the rain.
• The angry welt across her arm turned purple.

Activity 5: Identify Personified Object(s)

Review the poem excerpts and identify anything personified.

• She sweeps with many-colored brooms,
• Oh, housewife in the evening west,
• And still she plies her spotted brooms,
• And still the aprons fly,

Activity 6: Complete Book Activities   

• Click the crayon above, and complete pages 55-57 of 'Elementary Poetry 5: Literary Devices.'

References

'Personification.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.