Pathetic Fallacy - is this a "thing"

[marmia1234]

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

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

Never heard of it (perhaps only used in academic circles)

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.

I learnt this in GCSE English 16 years ago so definitely a thing

It’s widely used - something definitely mentioned quite frequently at secondary level (used to teach English). It’s easy to spot and students like recognising it!

Yes. It's to do with using weather to match the mood of a story or enhance the emotions ..so stormy weather for high tension, sunny calm skies for all is well.

I remember doing about this for GCSE English Literature in the 90s

I'm flummoxed as to how you have an English degree without encountering this! Have you never studied King Lear?!

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

It's one of those things that you don't really notice as a reader but is a gift for English teachers / students because it's pretty easy to spot, remember and mention in essays / exams.

I remember the term from school days but had to google to remind me of the definition!

Yep, I have high school aged kids and it’s something I know about from homework and lit study with them. Probably also from my own school days somewhere in the deep crevices of my mind palace!

I definitely learnt about it in A-level English.

Teen DD told me about it a few years ago when she was doing GCSEs, I'd never heard of it before

It isn't called the 'pathetic fallacy' because it is pathetic. I imagine it is because it concerns the evocation of pathos by means of the strategy of projection (onto the inanimate object).

As to why it is called a fallacy, I just googled that and it is apparently because John Ruskin didn't like it as a literary device and therefore gave it a hostile term.

My teens taught me this several years ago. We use it all the time.

It's used early on from Y7 in school now, but it wasn't a term I'd heard of when I was a school student (long time ago).

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.

Well it doesn't ring any bells for me either Op but I dropped English after GCSE so I've probably forgotten it if I ever knew it!

I’ve heard of it, but only because I read a graphic novel once where one of the main characters was a personification of the Pathetic Fallacy, and I looked up the term because I was getting a bit confused about what was happening around the character.

I don’t remember learning about the term at school, but I didn’t take English past GCSE and that’s a long time ago now!

I knew of the technique (King Lear) but am sure this is the first time I've heard the name! It's not a fallacy, it's it? And why pathetic?

I am driving to a family party today, the weather here is cold with a bit of an icy wind.. so am I living a pathetic fallacy?

I remember it from GCSE English 32 years ago!

Taught in English from about Year 5.

As others have said, it is definitely a 'thing' for GCSE English!