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Original poster

Pathetic Fallacy - is this a "thing"

447 replies

marmia1234 · 15/12/2024 07:50

My sons English report came home ( disclaimers: not in UK and I have a degree in English Literature)
In one section of the test they had to match a quote to its corresponding technique. For example - simile, imagery, metaphor, personification etc. One of those techniques was "pathetic fallacy" . I am flummoxed. Is this a normal thing I just missed somehow? Once he had a stab at which one was the "pathetic fallacy he was stuffed and only got 4 right out of 7 as was a bit discombobulated. Is this a common term in the UK or US
I have googled and it appears to be a version of personification.
Why is it pathetic?
Trying to add poll but seem to be unable.
YABU - everybody knows the term "Pathetic fallacy"
YANBU - WTF nobody has heard of that

OP posts:
Miyagi99 · 15/12/2024 08:32

Cane across this first in GCSE English Lit, Wuthering Heights is basically based on it.

CrepuscularCritter · 15/12/2024 08:32

It's taught from Year 7 in most secondary classes, I believe.

I also remember it vividly from A level. I had a question on pathetic fallacy in King Lear while sitting in a glass roofed sports hall during a thunderstorm.

IceStationZebra · 15/12/2024 08:32

Definitely learned this in English Lit at school but haven’t heard it much since and would have struggled to define it properly right now

FeralWoman · 15/12/2024 08:32

Never heard of it.

Australian secondary school education for me. Never did King Lear.

Fooshufflewickjbannanapants · 15/12/2024 08:32

Im nearly 50 and was taught this in primary my youngest is 11 and also taught it at primary

Cakeandcardio · 15/12/2024 08:31

Yes - regularly taught to all year groups in the secondary school I teach in.
Definition has already been given on this thread.

MrsWinkly · 15/12/2024 08:30

Changingname1988 · 15/12/2024 07:58

I have no memory of that term at all, I clicked on this thread because I wondered what it was!

I got an A at GCSE Eng Lit and A Level (many moons ago), so either we weren’t taught it, I missed that lesson or I have completely wiped it from my brain.

Me too. Never heard it before 😬

MissBattleaxe · 15/12/2024 08:30

I did my English degree in 1988 and whilst the technique was recognised, it definitely wasn't called pathetic fallacy. News to me!

busybanana · 15/12/2024 08:30

Nobiggerthanyourhand · 15/12/2024 08:07

It is overused and misused in English teaching in the UK.

It comes from John Ruskin who used it as a criticism for Romantic poets who overused the relationship between the weather and feelings as a trope.

Anything pre-Romantics is an anachronism.

The idea that the macrocosm responds to the microcosm has been around for longer and that is what Shakespeare is doing, for example.

I remember learning about it in these terms (microcosm and macrocosm), but not using the term ‘pathetic fallacy’.

ThisTeaIsBad · 15/12/2024 08:30

legallyblond · 15/12/2024 07:54

It’s secondary school level english - probably GCSE. This is a very normal literary term!

They get taught this in primary school. Year 4 I think. I don't remember coming across the term until I was a primary school TA.

Namechangeobviously2024 · 15/12/2024 08:29

I was never taught it (MA Eng Lit) but when I started working in a secondary school it was being taught from Year 7 up.

peachgreen · 15/12/2024 08:29

SoftPlaySaturdays · 15/12/2024 08:24

Definitely did this for GCSE English 20+ years ago. Far from the Madding Crowd.

Pathetic from "pathos" - strong feeling
Fallacy because the weather does not ACTUALLY care about your main character's life!

Ha! I learnt it in relation to Far For The Madding Crowd too!

Notmydaughteryoubitch · 15/12/2024 08:29

I remember vividly talking about pathetic fallacy in Wuthering Heights at GCSE.

Bewareofthisonetoo · 15/12/2024 08:28

It’s mainstream -anyone who has gone through secondary education in English will be aware of it!

ohpoowhatnow · 15/12/2024 08:27

We learnt this 15 years ago for GCSE English

peachgreen · 15/12/2024 08:26

As with PPs I learnt it at GSCE (and I remember it vividly because my English teacher left halfway through the term and was replaced by an NQT who insisted it was “prophetic fallacy” and made us go through all our coursework essays with Tippex and change it before moderation, at which point those of us who were moderated were marked down for using the wrong term, something I’m clearly still bitter about all these years on!). HOWEVER: I’m not surprised you have an English degree without knowing it. Unless you were writing an essay focusing specifically on it as a device, it would be a bit too GCSE-level to mention in degree-level study, I would imagine. I remember when I started my English degree I was shocked that all that analysis of literary technique stuff was sort of… no longer required, and instead it was all about contextual study – certainly at my institution, anyway.

Startinganew32 · 15/12/2024 08:26

Loungingbutnotforlong · 15/12/2024 07:52

Pathetic fallacy is when the weather matches the characters mood and situation e.g. the character is going through a tumultuous time and things are bleak for them-the weather might be dark sky/ stormy/ heavy rain.

Yes I did A Level English and we used this term, eg when studying The Tempest and King Lear. Fairly standard term I thought and quite surprised someone with a degree in English literature hasn’t heard of it. Pathetic comes from pathos.

Notellinganyone · 15/12/2024 08:26

OPsSockpuppet · 15/12/2024 07:52

It’s a fairly mainstream literary term… (I’m an English teacher).

Another English teacher here. Yes , pretty mainstream. But learning literary techniques like this out of context is pointless. Most people recognise it when they see it even if they can’t name it.

FiveFoxes · 15/12/2024 08:25

I know it took. In my mind it relates to giving objects feelings. Not sure if I learnt it in English or another subject.

Welshwabbit · 15/12/2024 08:24

I was very surprised when my son came home talking about pathetic fallacy in Year 4! I did know what it was but I did English Lit A-level and am fairly sure I only learned it then.

SoftPlaySaturdays · 15/12/2024 08:24

Definitely did this for GCSE English 20+ years ago. Far from the Madding Crowd.

Pathetic from "pathos" - strong feeling
Fallacy because the weather does not ACTUALLY care about your main character's life!

JustMyView13 · 15/12/2024 08:23

I haven’t heard of this since school! But it’s been in the curriculum for years.

Gymrabbit · 15/12/2024 08:22

*PhotoDad *

In English lit we would use the term personification for that.

Thewrongdoor · 15/12/2024 08:22

Completely standard literary term. I learnt about it for O level, if not earlier. I also have A level and a degree in English.

Tricho · 15/12/2024 08:20

Sorry OP I've known this for about 20 years, one of the first things I learnt in gcse lit