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=                            Prosopopoeia                            =
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                            Introduction
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A prosopopoeia (, ) is a rhetorical device in which a speaker or
writer communicates to the audience by speaking as another person or
object. The term literally derives from the Greek roots 'prósopon'
"face, person", and 'poiéin' "to make, to do", and is also called
personification.

Prosopopoeiae are used mostly to give another perspective on the
action being described. For example, in Cicero's Pro Caelio, Cicero
speaks as Appius Claudius Caecus, a stern old man. This serves to give
the "ancient" perspective on the actions of the plaintiff.
Prosopopoeiae can also be used to take some of the load off the
communicator by placing an unfavorable point of view on the shoulders
of an imaginary stereotype. The audience's reactions are predisposed
to go towards this figment rather than the communicator himself.

This term also refers to a figure of speech in which an animal or
inanimate object is ascribed human characteristics or is spoken of in
anthropomorphic language.  Quintilian writes of the power of this
figure of speech to "bring down the gods from heaven, evoke the dead,
and give voices to cities and states" ('Institutes of Oratory' [see
ref.]).


Speaking with another's voice
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A classic example of this usage can be found in the deuterocanonical
book of Sirach in the Bible, where Wisdom is personified and made to
speak to the people and to the reader:



In the second section of his Cooper Union address, Abraham Lincoln
creates a mock debate between Republicans and the South, a debate in
which he becomes spokesman for the party.


Ascribing human characteristics to a non-person
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In Jeremiah 47, there is a dialogue between the sword of the Lord and
the prophet:


In court a prosecutor may suggest to jurors that a homicide victim is
"speaking to us through the evidence". Before becoming a Senator, John
Edwards was reputed to have made such an argument in one of his most
famous tort cases, representing the family of a girl who had been
killed by a defective pool drain.

Slavoj Žižek, in his book 'The Year of Dreaming Dangerously' (Verso
Books 2012, p. 14), wrote:


Yogi Berra, speaking of a former Yankees manager., said: "If Miller
Huggins was alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave".

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 129 reads, in part:


                              See also
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*Anthropomorphism
*Character mask
*Personification


                             References
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*[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1734
Literary Encyclopedia page on Prosopopoeia]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090216195451/http://honeyl.public.iastate.edu/qu
intilian/9/chapter2.html#30
Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory, Bk. IX Ch. II]


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