Which of the following sentences contains personification?

The correct answer is Option (1) → On exam morning, my phone alarm showed no mercy and shouted me awake at five.

Personification:

• Personification gives human qualities or actions to a thing, an animal or an idea.
• The phone alarm “showed no mercy” and “shouted”. Mercy means kindness to someone in trouble. Only a person can show mercy or shout someone awake.

Why the Other Options are Incorrect?

Option 2: Every evening, the tea stall at the corner is the colony’s parliament. — Incorrect. This sentence uses a metaphor, which says that one thing is another without “like” or “as”. The tea stall is called “the colony’s parliament”, a place where people meet and argue.

Option 3: After losing the debate, Kiran wiped the classroom board with an angry duster. — Incorrect. This sentence uses a transferred epithet, where a describing word is moved from a person to a thing linked to them. Kiran is angry, but the word “angry” is put on the duster.

Option 4: After the Holi party, Rinku’s white kurta looked like a painter’s palette. — Incorrect. This sentence uses a simile, which compares two different things using “like” or “as”. The colourful kurta is compared to a painter’s palette with “like”.