ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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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]

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You happen to look in the mirror, and BOOM!

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There it is!

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The subject of your next poem. [Boy looks in the mirror and sees the toilet]

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…No.

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Not the toilet.

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Besides, nothing good rhymes with "toilet."

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A little to the left…and…there! [Boy sees himself and looks shocked]

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Bingo.

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You.

00:31

Why not write a poem about yourself?

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There's even a name for this type of poem…an autobiographical poem. [Coop dancing with a top hat]

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And guess what?

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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']

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subject of…well…you!

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You can put all sorts of stuff in an autobiographical poem, as long as it relates to your life.

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A good place to start might be with your birth! [Picture of a children's hospital]

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Although you should definitely go beyond just saying where and when it happened. [Baby crashes through the window]

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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]

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As with regular poems, a particularly vivid memory or important event can be a good starting

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point for an autobiographical poem. [Kid looking happy at a birthday party]

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Maybe the feeling of freedom you experienced the first time you ever rode a bike… [Guy riding a bike]

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…or maybe the feeling of pain after you crash landed thirty seconds later. [Guy crashes and one of the bike wheels appear]

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You could also focus your poem on some of the people in your life. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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You might have an annoying younger sibling who walks around the house, banging pots and [Kid banging pots in the kitchen]

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pans together…

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…but maybe you can channel that annoying clanging into poetry gold! [Gold bars with poetry on them appear]

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Once you have your subject in mind, it's worth thinking about what poetic tools you can use [Poetry toolbox on fire]

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in your autobiographical poem.

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And there are no rules to which tools you can use in an autobiographical poem. [Emily Dickinson holding a chainsaw]

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Seriously!

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You can pick and rhyme scheme or meter, you can use figurative language, you can sprinkle

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it with similes, or toss in a choice metaphor…go nuts.

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But if we could make one tiny suggestion, we'd definitely recommend using imagery. [Woman looking down a microscope to see the tiny suggestion]

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Since this is an autobiographical poem, you probably remember all sorts of imagery associated

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with the focus of your poem…

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…so why not share some of that rich, beautiful imagery with your readers? [Sylvia Plath looking in a mirror and typing]

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And yes.

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Once you're done with your autobiographical poem, you can get crackin' on that toilet [Shakespeare sat on the toilet]

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poem.

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But don't blame us if you're pooped after all that writing.

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