Personification. Personification is a figure of speech in which something not human is described as if it were human. Writers use personification to describe the appearance or actions of animals, elements of nature, or objects. What things are personified in “Pecos Bill”? Use a graphic organizer like the example here to keep track of them.

• Geography Connection. The story of Pecos Bill is set in the American Southwest, a region in which the weather is often very hot and dry. Parts of the region are home to wildlife unique to deserts. Many types of cactus, certain scrub grasses, mesquite trees, yucca plants, and jimsonweed thrive, as do armadillos, rattlesnakes, scorpions, road runners, javelinas, Gila monsters, and cactus wrens.
• History Connection. Life in the Old West was more difficult and less glamorous than many stories and films portray it. Cowboys spent long periods of time on the trail. They slept on the ground and rode in the saddle 18 hours a day. Not necessarily sharpshooters, they had to be skilled in roping, herding, and riding. Cowboys drove their cattle from place to place looking for good grazing grounds. They also drove the cattle from the Texas prairies to markets in Kansas and beyond. Their jobs were often dangerous—many were injured or killed from being kicked by a horse, charged by a steer, trampled, drowned during a river crossing, or caught in an electrical storm on the open prairie. In fact, more cowboys were killed by lightning than in shootouts.

Have you ever exaggerated, or heard someone exaggerate, while describing something?