Is this personification?
“The silence prolonged itself”
Probably, yes. I'd need to see the whole context to be sure.
Here is the whole passage. It's from the book Brave New Wprld by Aldous Huxley.
“He looked at her in silence, his face unresponsive and very grave—looked at her intently. After a few seconds Lenina’s eyes flinched away; she uttered a nervous little laugh, tried to think of something to say and couldn’t. The silence prolonged itself.”
I guess so, since inanimate objects/ideas (such as silence) don't have selves! Also since "prolong" is a verb usually used with people as subjects.
Yes, the phrase "The silence prolonged itself" is an example of personification. Personification is a figure of speech where human characteristics or actions are attributed to non-human things, in this case, to silence itself.
To determine if a sentence contains personification, you need to analyze if it gives human-like qualities to something that is not human. In this case, the sentence treats silence as if it has the ability to prolong itself, which is a trait typically associated with humans.
To further understand if a sentence contains personification, you can follow these steps:
1. Identify if the sentence describes actions, emotions, or characteristics that are typically associated with humans.
2. Evaluate if the sentence attributes these human-like qualities to something non-human.
3. If both conditions are met, then it is likely that the sentence contains personification.
It's important to note that personification can enhance the imagery and evoke emotions in writing by giving non-human things human-like qualities.