Final answer:
Personification is a type of metaphor that ascribes human qualities to nonhuman entities, creating vivid, emotional imagery in literature. It should not be confused with anthropomorphism or chremamorphism, which are related yet distinct concepts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term for a special sort of metaphor that assigns human qualities or traits to something nonhuman is called personification.
Personification involves the attribution of human characteristics to animals, plants, inanimate objects, or abstract concepts for rhetorical effect. This literary device is used to create vivid imagery and to help readers connect emotionally with the nonhuman entities being described. An example of personification is found in Laura Kasischke’s poem, where irises communicate through 'whispering little rumors in their mouths,' giving these plants human-like behavior of gossiping.
Similarly, in literature, trees reaching 'towards the sun like arms' is an illustration of personification, by instilling human action or emotion in trees. Anthropomorphism is often confused with personification but is slightly different; anthropomorphism is typically more extensive, imbuing the nonhuman entities with more profound human qualities or behaviors, sometimes even agency. Chremamorphism is the inverse, attributing the qualities of an inanimate object to a human, as in William Wordsworth’s 'I wandered lonely as a cloud.'