
In writing, there are typically “rules” that writers follow in order to compose a formal text. These rules are generally guidelines regarding grammar and structure. However, there are times in which writers must break these rules to convey their central idea. In the case of Brian Doyle’s piece Joyas Volardores, he defies these rules, making it easier for the reader to understand. He strays away from the many typical grammatical and structural regulations, such as utilizing a large amount of adjectives and writing run-on sentences. His writing is as though he was speaking in an everyday conversation. Doyle’s use of colloquial language in his writing, Joyas Volardores, contributes to the development and illumination of the overall message of the work, to compare the strength of a human heart to other animals in order to prove how much one endures. 

Throughout his essay,  Doyle lists many facts regarding a variety of different creatures and the way they operate. In doing this, he uses long lists of adjectives to explain said facts. For example, Doyle describes the metabolism of a hummingbird as an “incredible enormous immense metabolism,” and states that, “they have race-car hearts that eat oxygen at an eye-popping rate,” (Doyle, 95). The simple use of these adjectives allows the reader to understand the metabolism of a hummingbird without merely stating statistics and makes it a much more interesting read. Doyle continues to describe hummingbirds and moves on to their hearts, he states, “Their hearts are built of thinner, leaner fibers than ours,” (Doyle, 95). He then continues to explain other animals, and moves to the blue whale. Doyle describes many different aspects of their bodies and the ways in which they communicate. He describes their communication with the following phrase, “their penetrating moaning cries, their piercing yearning tongue, can be heard underwater for miles and miles,” (Doyle, 96). Doyle also speaks about the human heart. In doing this, he continues the trend of using multiple adjectives. In one instance, he writes, “all hearts are bruised and scarred, scored and torn,” (Doyle, 96). The use of various adjectives, although arguably unnecessary, allows the reader to gain a simple understanding into the facts he is providing, without getting caught up in the statistics. The central idea that Doyle is attempting to portray is easily understood because of the ways in which he describes his supporting facts. Often times, when reading a text cluttered with statistics, it is difficult to surmount the influx of information and comprehend why the writer is informing the reader of all of the material. Although less formal, the use of colloquial language and breaking of the typical structural rules allows for an easier perception of the overall theme.  

In addition to his use of adjectives, Doyle continues to speak casually with the use of comparisons to everyday things and occurrences. These comparisons make the text easier to understand and relate to. In describing that the hummingbird’s enthusiasm for life often ironically leads to it’s death he states, “It’s expensive to fly. You burn out. You fry the machine. You melt the engine,” (Doyle, 95). By using this comparison, it is easy for a person to understand what he is attempting to explain, that hummingbirds have the tendency to run themselves down. Following this, Doyle compares the heart of a blue whale to a room. He asserts, “It’s as big as a room. It is a room, with four chambers. A child could walk around in it, head high, bending only to step through the valves. The valves are as big as the swinging doors in a saloon,” (Doyle, 95). This specific comparison is especially important because of how easily it portrays a picture of a familiar area in the reader’s mind. These comparisons once again provide the reader with enough information to comprehend the facts presented to them without merely having to read scientific facts and statistics. The conclusion of Doyle’s writing explains the functions of the human heart, therefore, the various comparisons to typical human activities allow for a relative introduction into his final paragraph, in which he also reveals his purpose. By speaking colloquially and utilizing everyday analogies, Doyle never strays from his path in leading the reader to his final point, which is to explain the functions and purpose of humans and their bodies. 

In the same fashion, Doyle utilizes short, almost repetitive sentences to describe certain facts. Occasionally these sentences are not complete thoughts, but they seem to make sense. The first occurrence of these sentences appears in the second paragraph as Doyle states, “Each one visits a thousand flowers a day. They can dive at sixty miles an hour. They can fly backwards. They can fly more than five hundred miles without pausing to rest.,” (Doyle, 95). Although Doyle could have combined these facts into fewer sentences, the reader does not have to do much thinking to make sense of the information provided to them because it is simply laid out in front of them. These sentences appear again in the fifth paragraph, as Doyle begins to state facts about respective animal classes. He does this through the following, “Mammals and birds have hearts with four chambers. Reptiles and turtles have hearts with three chambers. Fish have hearts with two chambers. Insects and mollusks have hearts with one chamber,” (Doyle 96). These sentences are utilized in like manner to the aforementioned short sentences and serve a similar purpose in that they don’t require much thought to understand. It is simple for the reader to comprehend and through this, allows the reader to keep their mind open and focused on the purpose of why they are being presented this information. In allowing this to happen, the reader can easily understand the central idea presented and why Doyle chose to explain the functions of other animals in order to overall link their functions and endurance to that of the human heart.

The final paragraph of Doyle’s Joyas Volardores is the place in which his true purpose is revealed to the reader. In this paragraph, he explains the human heart, and how it and the ways in which people feel change throughout a lifetime. He explains that a heart starts innocent in a child but grows scarred and torn as life goes on. The purpose of his colloquial discussion of facts relating to other creatures becomes clear. His intention was to explain the bodily functions of other creatures, specifically their hearts, to overall highlight the levels of endurance each human heart must posses. His central point in writing this text is to explain to the reader, that like other creatures, the heart is meant to endure. It is to reveal that the way of human life is to experience pain, love, joy, and sadness. He wants the reader to know that they are meant to experience these different emotions, even if times might be difficult. He uses the explanations of the other animals to prove that all creatures must do this, just in different ways. The use of colloquial language and the breaking of grammatical and structural rules overall grant the reader a greater understanding of the main point of the text in such a way that they are presented necessary, basic information without becoming overwhelmed in statistics and facts but can still fully understand the purpose of his writing. This is effective because his overall purpose was clearly not to educate the reader on the bodily functions of other animals, but to show how it relates to the endurance and nature of the human heart. 