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Jenny Jones
Blandford
UWRT 1101-028
29 September 2015

WTE 3- Rhetoric Situation/ Poetry

The rhetor, or author, of this poem is Dylan Thomas. His audience for this writing piece
is older men, who are poetry readers, and may have an issue with someone close to them. The
rhetorical situation in this literature is that Thomas father is dying at an old age but he wants his
dad to keep fighting death and stay as strong as he can. The message portrayed in this poem is
that older men should end their lives with a kick and they should strive to be as strong as
possible during their last years and days.
Poetry and other forms of literacy, including lyrics and rap songs, create a literacy
landscape that writers use to display the message of a situation or subject. In a piece of literature
there is always a idea or point being portrayed to an audience, whether it is obvious and
understandable, or if it is deep and hidden. The message being illustrated, in some form of
composition, is used as a literacy landscape to create the work written by the author. The
audience is who the message is being delivered to, usually in hopes to help the person reading
the written work.
However, not all written language rhymes or has a set structure. Literature is mostly a
free flow written piece that portrays a message to the audience. This is better than prose because

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the ideal is more relatable to people of a certain audience, instead of a whole array of people that
do not care about the message. On the other hand, poetry can also be worse than having a
structured piece because for an audience, such as children, it is easier for them to understand
something that they are reading or writing with a set structure to it.
Furthermore, poetry has not altered my understanding of literacy themes. I do not read
poetry very often, but whenever I do it is always the same theme. It has a message deep within
the words of the poem so it is not easy to find the point of the piece. Once I understand the
message and the situation of a poem it is easy for me to find the rhetorical theme, but it takes a
little bit of critical thinking and time. The author of a poem is obviously the rhetor. The audience
is usually directed towards a certain group of people which is difficult to see sometimes. Because
of this when we find out the message, I need to think about what kind of group of people it is
being directed towards so that they can be helped or be heard.
On the other hand, it is a lot easier to find the message and situation of a song, especially
in todays music. The music artists in todays society write their lyrics about everyday things
going on in their lives. They do not make songs complicated to get the message that they are
trying to get across, even though some songs should not even be made because the point being
portrayed is stupid. The author is the writer of the song not necessarily the singer which is a little
confusing for some people to understand and the audience is those that listen to that genre of
music.