How could you personify a staircase?

Question

Im doing a creative writing paper on an embarassing moment in my life... falling down the stairs in public. how could i personify the staircase i described:
They started heading for the gargantuan marble staircase, located in the very center of the building. It was one of those double staircases, where people are supposed to descend on one side, and ascend on the other. There were sleek, polished gold colored railings which had enhancing patterns designed on the sides. The railings swooped out at the bottom of the stairs like a bell. It was one of those staircases that a toddler might fantasize about making a Cinderella entrance on.

we were required to be descriptive, and to use personification somewhere in the paper, and i thought the stairs might be a good place to personify. if you wish to help me in other areas of the paper, email me, giving me a reply address and ill attatch the paper.

Answer 1

You could say something like "the stairs encouraged me to descend" or "the stairs mocked me as I fell"

Answer 2

Something like:

They headed toward the gargantuan marble staircase, which sat arrogantly in the center of the building. It was one of those double staircases where people descend on one side and ascend on the other, the type you might fantasize about making a Cinderella entrance on. Sleek, polished gold railings with enhancing patterns swooped out at the bottom like arms welcoming them in.

I like the other idea of 'It mocked her as she fell' too.

Answer 3

You've given a great description of a staircase, but you haven't personified it. To personify something means to give it the attributes of a person, to make it think like a person, or behave like a person.
As the staircase is a double one, you could liken the two sections of it as arms opening wide to embrace the people who are climbing up it. You could liken the steps to an old man's back, so they might creak and groan under the weight of a person's foot.
That is how you would personify the staircase. But is that what you really need to do? Did your assignment specifically ask for personification? If it was description that was required, you've done an excellent job. The line about Cinderella is especially apt.

Answer 4

If you're trying to give the staircase a lifelike quality, and trying to use that quality in your story, I would go more for something organic but not necessarily, "alive."

For instance, an organic way of describing "troublesome" stairs might be comparing them to shifting sand, a slate-covered slope or a hill of trip-inducing roots, snaking their way to the surface and appearing underfoot where the ground was, only a moment ago, devoid of obstruction.

I hope that's helpful!

Answer 5

Life and its perilous journey