“On Being a Cripple”‚ Nancy Mairs In her essay “On Being a Cripple”‚ Nancy Mairs presents her audience with an honest inside view of her life and perspective as a cripple‚ a word she openly uses to define herself. She brings her world to us by discussing a wide variety of things including language‚ family‚ and humor‚ and how these all relate to her life. Through various stories and insights‚ she allows her readers to gain an understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities
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In her essay‚ "On Being a Cripple"‚ Nancy Mairs reflects on her life as a "cripple" due to multiple sclerosis (MS). It is truly admirable how she is able to remain in such a positive attitude despite her unfortunate consequences. Instead of asking for people’s sympathy‚ Mairs wanted herself to be identified as a cripple instead of a handicapped or disabled person. She even believed that her condition helped to enrich her life and define the person she is. It is truly remarkable how she can face such
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from being offended as people tend to use words that appear to be more socially acceptable than those that express the truth. The reason that society uses euphemisms is because people are not willing to be straightforward‚ and instead would rather use words to present themselves as being more sensitive to a particular circumstance. Society has accepted that people are pushing away from being authentic‚ and leaning more towards what is believed to be politically correct. In “On Being a Cripple” by
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The descriptive essay‚ "On Being A Cripple‚" by Nancy Mairs demonstrates a purpose to postulate the way society has brainwashed people to judge others incorrectly in order to expose the true thoughts of a person living beneath the glamorized world. Mairs strongly feels that "[she has not] lost anything in the course of this calamitous disease" (37)‚ known as Multiple Sclerosis‚ a disease that deteriorates the nerves and interferes with brain and body communication because the immune system has eaten
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I found Mair’s essay “On Being Cripple” surprisingly fun to read. Given the subject matter‚ I didn’t think it would be fun to read. The title alone not only sounds depressing‚ but it also creates unpleasant feelings within me. I feel sadness‚ pity‚ and uncomfortable just to name a few emotions. Mairs invoked pathos just by the title alone. Nancy Mairs was very effective in sharing what it was like to have a disability. The struggles that she has had to endure every day and how she copes with the
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Author‚ Nancy Mairs‚ in her essay‚ “On Being A Cripple”‚ clarifies why she decided to replace the common and too vague words made for disabled people with “cripple”. Mairs purpose is to make sure the readers know and understand in great detail why the word cripple describes herself and her disability better than any other word. She uses a confident tone in order to ensure that the readers alike and unalike herself know that she is ok with being a crippled. Mairs begins her text with the strong clarification
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euphemisms such as “differently abled”. Nancy Mairs‚ however‚ is proud to be called a “cripple” as she demonstrates with her use of comparison and contrast‚ blunt diction‚ and confident tone‚ all of which explain why she truly believes that she falls under the “crippled” category. Maris presents three distinct definitions of “disabled”‚ “handicapped”‚ and “crippled” and why she believes that she falls in the last. She advocates that the word “cripple” accurately describes her because it’s a “straightforward
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12/05/2011 “Cripple” Often times‚ people with disabilities feel sorrow and unfortunate. Nancy Mairs faces sclerosis‚ a serious condition that limits her ability to do regular‚ everyday tasks. In her essay‚ Mairs stresses the meaning of the word “cripple” to the point in which she defines her own meaning of the term. With the use of rhetorical strategies‚ Mairs presents herself as a strong‚ proud individual despite her disabilities. Mairs’ specific language choice reveals that she is not ashamed
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In her essay‚ On Being a Cripple‚ Nancy Mairs comments satirically on the English language‚ American society and her overarching life struggle with multiple sclerosis . Mairs begins her essay by writing on her life experiences‚ and why she prefers to be called a ‘cripple’ over being called a ‘differently-abled’‚ person. In paragraph two‚ Mairs writes that‚ “As a cripple‚ I swagger‚” In order to understand what she is saying‚ the context of the quote must be made known; in order to understand the
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Nancy Mairs is mentally strong and passionate. She refuses to indulge in the societies way of feeling sorry for those who are unfortunate‚ as in her case. She repudiates the very thought of social protection for her "unable" limbs. Mairs is an independent individualist who refuses to seek refuge for her "crippled" body. The word choice used by any writer can portray or hide any of the author’s points or secrets. Nancy Mairs uses repetitive diction in which she repeats words such as "handicapped"
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