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Writing the dreaded English essay spikes anxiety for thousands of students, but is there a way for writing to boost students\u2019 well-being instead?<\/p>\n
I wanted to know if a new approach to teaching literary studies could tap into the feel-good side of writing and make essays a path to wellness, so\u00a0I designed an English course to try it out at Nipissing University<\/a>.<\/p>\n We know that\u00a0university students are at risk of mental-health struggles<\/a>, particularly depression and anxiety. If writing can help instead of stress them out, it could be a refreshing change for English studies \u2014 and a new way for teachers to introduce essay writing.<\/p>\n Studies show that writing can boost your mental and physical health<\/a>\u00a0if you focus on expressing your emotions and digging for insight.<\/p>\n Paying more attention to the positives in our lives<\/a>, specifically by writing them down, could further enhance short- and long-term well-being.<\/p>\n Students first need to find out that writing can actually support well-being.<\/p>\n In the course, they took up a journalling habit, but it wasn\u2019t just about venting their feelings or writing whatever came to mind. We looked at studies on how writing can reshape your thinking and boost positivity.<\/p>\n Three methods stood out:<\/p>\n Where journalling provides a space to play around with techniques, essays give students a place to reflect on their efforts, report on the results and hypothesize about positive effects of the experience.<\/p>\n One of the fascinating things about writing for well-being is that\u00a0no one knows for certain why it works<\/a>. Across studies it shows reliable, modest benefits, but the underlying mechanism for its effects hasn\u2019t been pinned down \u2014 so students\u2019 own theories could contribute to solving a real mystery.<\/p>\n Writers feed off inspiration. Showing students that authors have been using writing for well-being \u2014 and making great art in the process \u2014 gives them that extra push to keep writing and go deeper.<\/p>\n Among Canadian authors, L. M. Montgomery\u2019s story is especially compelling. Her famous books like\u00a0Anne of Green Gables<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Emily of New Moon<\/em>\u00a0have made a utopia of Prince Edward Island; but inwardly, Montgomery experienced deep mental anguish, leading to\u00a0addiction in her later life<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her journals detail this other side to her life and show how she used writing to ease her mental suffering. As she memorably notes in\u00a0an entry from 1904<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cI feel better for writing it out. It is almost as efficacious as swearing would be and much more respectable.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Looking to Montgomery as a mentor helped students realize how creative and immersive personal writing can be, in turn motivating them to push forward with their own journalling.<\/p>\n Discussing Montgomery\u2019s life writing in their essays made sense because they could see how her efforts to find solace through writing were relatable to their own.<\/p>\n Poetry can beautifully map a state of mind. But traditional approaches to teaching it have a tendency to suck the life out of literature that should be a joy and a delight.<\/p>\n Instead of taking what some teachers call a\u00a0\u201ctechnique spotting\u201d approach<\/a>\u00a0where you count up the metaphors, teaching English from a well-being perspective taps into poetry\u2019s healing qualities.<\/p>\nStarting with journalling<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Case study on the self<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Inspiration from literature<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Easing back on literary jargon<\/strong><\/h4>\n