The phrase "The stars danced in the sky" is an example of ___.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Correct Answer
personification
Explanation
The sentence "The stars danced in the sky" is an example of personification because it assigns a human action and characteristic (dancing) to a non-human, inanimate object (stars). Stars cannot actually dance; they twinkle or shift position due to atmospheric distortion, but describing them as dancing paints a vivid, poetic image for the reader.
Let's look at why the other options are incorrect:
A metaphor makes a direct comparison between two unrelated things by stating that one thing is another thing without using "like" or "as" (for example, "The stars were diamonds in the sky").
A simile also compares two different things, but it explicitly uses connection words such as "like" or "as" (for example, "The stars shone like diamonds").
An idiom is an established expression or phrase that has a figurative meaning completely different from its literal definition (for example, "bite the bullet").
Because the sentence attributes human behavior to an object in nature, Option 2 is the correct answer.
Key Points
Personification always involves giving human traits—like emotions, desires, sensations, gestures, or speech—to animals, objects, or ideas.
Another common example found on exams is "The wind howled in the night," where the human/animal action of howling is given to the weather.