Weird Language and Weirder Places: Reading and Teaching the Weird in Poetry.

Poetry of the Weird is a small subgenre that is frequently overlooked as a source for pedagogy, particularly for teaching about poetic language and imagery. The "Weird" differentiates itself from the supernatural by refusing to coalesce into definition and meaning; instead, the Weird embraces the unknowable and oneiric. Instructors can use this aspect of Weird poetry to illuminate issues of tropology and form in poetry as well as to engage students with questions about the poet's motivation. This article explicates poems by James Tate, Mary Oliver, and Charles Simic to demonstrate the mechanics of the Weird, suggests several ways to approach teaching, and concludes with brief recommendations for future reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]