Poetry as a Coping Instrument and a Teaching Tool

Abstract

The paper seeks to revive the interest of teachers and learners in poetry reading and writing as a means to teach English at intermediate and advanced levels. The paper demonstrates the results of the authors’ classroom experience during the enforced lockdown of 2020 in integrating poetry into English language class. The paper looks at poetry as a teaching tool and a coping strategy for students facing the negative consequences of the pandemic. First, the authors analyse the COVID-related poetry in English and Russian. They identify the key emotions people had been experiencing during the pandemic by finding key words, symbols and stylistic devices. The inclusion of English and Russian pieces provides certain culture specific interpretations of the new reality. Further, the authors analyze poems written in English by their students and assess the creative activity in terms of a coping strategy. The authors conclude that, provided the students are given examples of various genres, the activity enables them to reconsider their attitude to the pandemic in a constructive way. In more general terms, the authors conclude that the regular inclusion of poetry practices in English language classes can create a healthy and dynamic atmosphere which in turn may contribute to enhancing the teaching efficiency.