Rhetorical Analysis of Gary Provost's Poem

Leave it to poetry to look at a topic or concept in a different light. Take for example, Gary Provost. He was a writer of twenty-four books that includes guidelines for writers, and on top of that he also practiced writing poetry. One of his poems in particular I chose to analyze. It is about the writers voice and the impact it had on the reader. 

In this poem, the purpose of the text is to inspire and exemplify, and that it's specifically for the reader to write more influentially by using different sentence structures and wording. The text uses examples of shorter monotone sentences, each including only five words, and then elaborates on them with more than five words, adding variety, to create a growing voice that starts quiet and gets louder to build emphasis. 

I believe that out of all of the writing genres, this text best fits into the poetry genre because of its analogies, its dramatic pauses, and it's poetic structure. It could arguably also be a narrative due to the way Provost explains how a writer would create a strong voice in their writing to keep the reader hooked on their every word.

To give the reader a reference of what to base their writing off of when looking for ways to create a strong voice, the entire text is an example of that. It has what to do and what not to do. Therefore anyone reading the poem can clearly visualize these examples as it absorbs the readers themselves in its mesmerizing tone of voice.

The reader is hooked by Provost's words because of his analogies. He uses figurative language metaphors to compare the writers voice to an orchestra's instruments. For a soft smooth sounding voice, Provost uses words such as "harmony", "lilt", and "rhythm". Compared to when using words such as "crescendo", "drums", "crash", and "cymbals", Provost makes the reader become excited about the writing. The metaphors allow the reader to hear the text's voice become louder and more, or softer and more soothing, relating very appropriately with the metaphorical instruments.

Then Provost ends the poem with a sentence that is powerful, yet soft. After her gets the reader’s full attention, he uses that energy the reader now has to write a closing statement that makes an impact. The sentence itself speaks directly to the reader, making it personal. From beginning to end, the poem gains momentum and ends with a crescendo, leaving the reader with the ringing of instruments still in their ears.