Poetry and Playfulness: How Universitas Negeri Surabaya’s English Literature Study Program Creates Unforgettable Poetry Experiences

Uniquely and hilariously, the 2023 cohort, poetry appreciation class became the highlight of courses on campus after students were asked to practice what they read from the poetry. With the creativity of one of the lecturers, who had a poetry appreciation course on onomatopoeia material, she created and changed the views of her students Poetry that says " poetry is sometimes difficult to understand and it makes poem bored " and it's strange, isn't it, when we look at the results of the learning in that class, a room full of laughter and creative expressions that makes them smile and enthusiast more in knowing the poetry deeper.

The class led by Ma'am Pratiwi Retnaningdyah and Ma'am Ayu Saraswati is part of the English Literature Department class of 2023 at Surabaya State University. The assignment was simple: read and practice poetry about a poem they discovered. Sounds boring, right? Wrong! The students undertook the task with enthusiasm, and the results were truly amazing.

“I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it,” said one IUP student of 2023 cohort. "I didn't expect it to be like that, but it was actually really fun. And the best part was seeing my classmates' reactions as we recited the poems with different voices and intonations, adapting to what they read for example by imitating the sounds of the various written animals in their poetry, and many other interesting things."

Some anonymous said he was very pleased with the results of this assignment. “I want to challenge my students to think outside the box and find humor in everyday situations, like it” he explained. "And honestly, I was amazed by what they produced. Who would have thought that using this method could increase their enthusiasm for learning?"

The success of the assignment has even inspired Ma'am Ayu Saraswati and Ma'am Pratiwi Retnaningdyah to plan more fun and unconventional activities for her next classes, and who knows, these ways and methods could be the way forward for students' interest in the lesson itself, not in the difficulty or not understanding the material, but in how the delivery of the material can make students enthusiastic and happy in going through it.

By Ilman Zidni Mubarok