Joyas Voladoras
Cortez, Maryjane
Wheeler, Laura
English 1H
24 Sept 2010 “A hummingbird’s heart is as small as a pencil eraser, a whale’s heart is as big as a room, and a human’s heart is somewhere in between the two.” Brain Doyle introduces various aspects of hearts to the reader in his essay “Joyas Voladoras.” Doyle himself writes, “A hummingbird’s heart beats ten times a second. They can dive at sixty miles an hour’’(273). Doyle describes the physical aspect of a hummingbird’s heart. The uniqueness of a hummingbird's heart limits its life span roughly two years. Doyle continues his comparative analysis of hearts by describing a whale’s heart. According to Doyle, “The biggest heart in the world is inside the blue whale....it’s as big as a room. ‘It is a room, with four chambers...a child could walk around in it’’(274). Doyle compares the number of heart chambers with those of other mammals, reptiles, fish, worms, and bacteria. The numbers range from four chambers in a whale to none in bacteria. He then connects the animals’ heart chambers to a human heart’s chambers and then Doyle starts explaining the emotional side of a human heart. In the end of Doyle’s essay he presents a series of emotionally charged scenes: “The words I have to tell you something, a cat with a broken spine dragging itself into the forest to die, the brush of your mother’s papery ancient hand in the thicket of your hair”(275). These scenarios suggest that no matter how strong you build your walls to protect your heart, they can easily come down with life experiences such as a breakup, loss of a loved one, or love at first sight. Doyle’s justification of a physical heart relies more on a mammals’ heart, and an emotional heart is what makes us human.
A traditional essay has an introduction and a conclusion. Brian Doyle’s essay shows neither. In Doyle’s essay his writing style lacks an obvious main idea. Doyle begins his essay describing his first example of the hummingbird’s
Wheeler, Laura
English 1H
24 Sept 2010 “A hummingbird’s heart is as small as a pencil eraser, a whale’s heart is as big as a room, and a human’s heart is somewhere in between the two.” Brain Doyle introduces various aspects of hearts to the reader in his essay “Joyas Voladoras.” Doyle himself writes, “A hummingbird’s heart beats ten times a second. They can dive at sixty miles an hour’’(273). Doyle describes the physical aspect of a hummingbird’s heart. The uniqueness of a hummingbird's heart limits its life span roughly two years. Doyle continues his comparative analysis of hearts by describing a whale’s heart. According to Doyle, “The biggest heart in the world is inside the blue whale....it’s as big as a room. ‘It is a room, with four chambers...a child could walk around in it’’(274). Doyle compares the number of heart chambers with those of other mammals, reptiles, fish, worms, and bacteria. The numbers range from four chambers in a whale to none in bacteria. He then connects the animals’ heart chambers to a human heart’s chambers and then Doyle starts explaining the emotional side of a human heart. In the end of Doyle’s essay he presents a series of emotionally charged scenes: “The words I have to tell you something, a cat with a broken spine dragging itself into the forest to die, the brush of your mother’s papery ancient hand in the thicket of your hair”(275). These scenarios suggest that no matter how strong you build your walls to protect your heart, they can easily come down with life experiences such as a breakup, loss of a loved one, or love at first sight. Doyle’s justification of a physical heart relies more on a mammals’ heart, and an emotional heart is what makes us human.
A traditional essay has an introduction and a conclusion. Brian Doyle’s essay shows neither. In Doyle’s essay his writing style lacks an obvious main idea. Doyle begins his essay describing his first example of the hummingbird’s