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ELA 5: Brainstorming an Autobiographical Poem 36 Views
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Description:
It shouldn't be too hard. It is a poem about you , after all. Who else knows more about you than you? This video is about writing an autobiographical poem.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Dino and Coop singing]
- 00:13
Let's say you're in your bathroom, trying to find some inspiration for your next poem. [Boy thinking in strange places in the bathroom]
- 00:18
You happen to look in the mirror, and BOOM!
- 00:20
There it is!
- 00:21
The subject of your next poem. [Boy looks in the mirror and sees the toilet]
Full Transcript
- 00:23
…No.
- 00:24
Not the toilet.
- 00:25
Besides, nothing good rhymes with "toilet."
- 00:26
A little to the left…and…there! [Boy sees himself and looks shocked]
- 00:29
Bingo.
- 00:30
You.
- 00:31
Why not write a poem about yourself?
- 00:32
There's even a name for this type of poem…an autobiographical poem. [Coop dancing with a top hat]
- 00:36
And guess what?
- 00:37
Since you've spent your entire life as yourself, you're basically the foremost expert on the [Boy holding a PhD certificate in 'self study']
- 00:41
subject of…well…you!
- 00:44
You can put all sorts of stuff in an autobiographical poem, as long as it relates to your life.
- 00:49
A good place to start might be with your birth! [Picture of a children's hospital]
- 00:52
Although you should definitely go beyond just saying where and when it happened. [Baby crashes through the window]
- 00:55
Birth certificates don't exactly make great poems. [Picture of a birth certificate saying Jack was born in a hospital but quickly ended up on the road]
- 00:59
As with regular poems, a particularly vivid memory or important event can be a good starting
- 01:03
point for an autobiographical poem. [Kid looking happy at a birthday party]
- 01:05
Maybe the feeling of freedom you experienced the first time you ever rode a bike… [Guy riding a bike]
- 01:09
…or maybe the feeling of pain after you crash landed thirty seconds later. [Guy crashes and one of the bike wheels appear]
- 01:12
You could also focus your poem on some of the people in your life. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]
- 01:16
You might have an annoying younger sibling who walks around the house, banging pots and [Kid banging pots in the kitchen]
- 01:20
pans together…
- 01:21
…but maybe you can channel that annoying clanging into poetry gold! [Gold bars with poetry on them appear]
- 01:24
Once you have your subject in mind, it's worth thinking about what poetic tools you can use [Poetry toolbox on fire]
- 01:29
in your autobiographical poem.
- 01:30
And there are no rules to which tools you can use in an autobiographical poem. [Emily Dickinson holding a chainsaw]
- 01:35
Seriously!
- 01:36
You can pick and rhyme scheme or meter, you can use figurative language, you can sprinkle
- 01:39
it with similes, or toss in a choice metaphor…go nuts.
- 01:43
But if we could make one tiny suggestion, we'd definitely recommend using imagery. [Woman looking down a microscope to see the tiny suggestion]
- 01:48
Since this is an autobiographical poem, you probably remember all sorts of imagery associated
- 01:52
with the focus of your poem…
- 01:54
…so why not share some of that rich, beautiful imagery with your readers? [Sylvia Plath looking in a mirror and typing]
- 01:58
And yes.
- 01:59
Once you're done with your autobiographical poem, you can get crackin' on that toilet [Shakespeare sat on the toilet]
- 02:02
poem.
- 02:03
But don't blame us if you're pooped after all that writing.
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