Activity Overview
The personification is the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form. In this short story by Rudyard Kipling, "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", the animal characters all have actions and emotions that can be considered human-like.
Each of the animal characters in the book speaks and feels, in one manner or another, like a human. All of the animals interact with one another, share information, and make plans. Have students find an example of this for different characters by making a spider map or Frayer Model. Students should use a quote from the story and explain it to prove that the author has personified the animal in some way.
Personification Examples
CHARACTER | QUOTE | EXPLANATION |
---|---|---|
Rikki Tikki Tavi | "Angry as he was, Rikki-tikki was very frightened as he saw the size of the big cobra." | Kipling describes his emotions like a human. |
Chuchundra | "Chuchundra sat down and cried till the tears rolled off his whiskers." | Humans cry for emotional reasons; animals do not. |
Nag and Nagaina | "When the house is emptied of people," said Nagina to her husband... | Marriage is a human institution. Animals do not actually get married. |
Darzee & His Wife | "We are very miserable," said Darzee. "Our babies fell out of the nest yesterday." | Darzee and his wife understand the causes of their feelings in a way most animals do not. |
Template and Class Instructions
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a storyboard illustrating how each character is personified in "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi".
- Use the template provided by your teacher.
- Type "Personification" in the middle of the frayer model.
- Identify four characters, putting the names in each title box.
- In the description, type a quote and explain why it's personification.
- Illustrate each character with appropriate animals, colors, and scenes.
Lesson Plan Reference
Rubric
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
Proficient | Emerging | Beginning | |
---|---|---|---|
Examples of Personification | There are three examples of personification. | There are two correct examples of personification. | Only one of the examples of personification is correct. |
Illustrations | Illustrations depict the example of personification from the story with clear visuals of appropriate scenes, characters, items, etc. | Illustrations depict the example of personification from the story but are unclear or incomplete. | Illustrations do not make sense with the examples chosen. |
Descriptions | There are descriptions for all three example of personification that correctly explain what the personification means in the context of the story. | One of the descriptions is missing or the descriptions do not fully explain what the personification means in the context of the story. | Two or more descriptions are missing or they do not explain what the personification means. |
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Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
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