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[Dino and Coop singing]

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There are poems about all sorts of different things: tigers, distant planets, onion rings...anything! [Someone putting an onion ring around a planet]

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Some poets even make up words to describe made-up things, like Lewis Caroll and his

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whiffling, burbling Jabberwocky. [Drawing of the Jabberwocky]

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However, some poets would rather focus on their own, very real lives, using a style

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called autobiographical poetry. [The Jabberwocky is swiped away]

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The idea behind it is pretty simple.

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You've probably already heard of an autobiography, aka an account that a person writes about [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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their own life.

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The classic autobiography is a book, where the writer tries to cover most of their life

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in a lot of detail.

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As you might expect, these can get pretty long, especially if the writer thinks that [Pages of book being turned]

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they've had an interesting life.

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And since they did decide to write a whole book about themselves, they probably think [Guy using a typewriter]

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they're pretty dang interesting.

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However, things are different when it comes to autobiographical poetry.

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Generally a poet doesn't try to encapsulate their entire life in a single poem. [A photo album opening]

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Instead, they tend to focus on one small moment from their life, which is what their poem [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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revolves around.

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Makes sense to us.

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It'd be really tough to write one poem that includes the day you were born… [Picture of a woman holding a baby]

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…and your first day of school…

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…and how you learned to ride a bike… [Broken bike]

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…especially if you wanted the whole thing to rhyme!

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When reading autobiographical poems, we have to be aware of all the stuff we'd pay attention

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to in any other poem: the style the poet used, as well as the meter form, imagery, rhyme

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pattern, and language.

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We also have to keep a sharp eye on tone, because it doesn't always match exactly what's [Tone written in big letters]

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happening in the poem.

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Say the poet wrote an autobiographical poem about riding a rollercoaster on their last [Family in a car]

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trip to Disneyland.

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Sounds pretty fun, right?

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If you like rollercoasters, that is. [Rollercoaster going to the top of the peak]

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Well, maybe or maybe not.

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Sure, the poet could've had a great time! [Kid having fun while his dad looks scared]

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If the poem's all about the wind rushing through their hair, and the exhilaration they felt,

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and how wide their smile was, those are pretty good hints that we're dealing with a pretty positive tone. [His dad's face is green]

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However, since this was the poet's last trip to Disneyland, the focus might instead be

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on the end of the ride: stepping off the rollercoaster, and stepping out of childhood.

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In which case we're dealing with a much more melancholic tone. [Guy is too tall for the ride]

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It might not sound like the greatest ad for Disneyland, but that's not really the purpose

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of all poetry.

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And besides, it doesn't matter how old you are…everyone's a kid at Disneyland!

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That's why we always eat 47 churros!

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….That's…what kids do, right? [Guy sat with a big plate of churros]

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…Oh.

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We uh…we might have a problem…

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