Note to Instructors

By completing the following assignment, students will:

• Gain experience with autobiographical poetry writing
  
• Practice using another’s creative work as inspiration for their own
  
• Consider the impact point of view has on a poem

Overview

This four-step assignment is intended to be low-stakes, generative, and engaging. By the end of it, you’ll have written a(n) (auto)biographical poem of your own, revised it, and reflected a little bit on the process. The purpose here is not to create a masterpiece (though feel free to do so!); rather, the idea is to practice shaping life into poetry, to think about the impact of point of view, and to get practice using other creative works as inspiration for your own.

Part 1

Carefully read Donika Kelly’s “Fourth Grade Autobiography.” Think: how would you experience this poem differently were it “Fourth Grade Biography” and written in second- or third-person point of view instead? 

Part 2

Try writing your own “Fourth Grade Autobiography,” but from any grade or age—and here’s the catch: if you are writing it about yourself, it must be in second- or third-person point of view. If you are writing it about someone else (say, a family member, a friend, a famous person, or someone you imagine), it can be in first, second, or third person. Here are the rules

• Your poem must be at least 10 lines. 
  
• Your poem must include at least three other characters besides the main persona (main character) of the poem. (Kelly’s poem, for instance, talks about both her parents, a brother, a sister, etc.). 
  
• Your poem should use or adapt one “move” from another poem you’ve read (some kind of repetition, an intriguing line break, interesting spacing, a word you just recently learned and want to try using, etc.).

Part 3

After writing your poem, copy and paste it so you have a second copy of it, then change the point of view. (For instance, if you wrote the original poem in second person—using only “you”—try changing it to the first person “I.”)

Part 4

Read through both versions of the poem, then write a brief, paragraph-length reflection. In this reflection, consider the following questions: How did this activity go for you? How did writing a(n) (auto)biographical poem differ, or feel similar, to other creative writing you have done? Which point of view did you prefer your poem in, and why?