Essay On Being A Cripple - 922 Words

Change is Crippling In Nancy Mairs short story, â€Å"On Being a Cripple†, she reflects on her life handling her disability of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and how it has changed different aspects of her existence. She defines herself as a cripple despite the negative connotations the word may have. Over the past ten years, Mairs has had her MS slowly progress as her body deteriorates. She sees her life as fairly average, but seemingly small tasks have become difficult to her and has required help from her family. Despite their support, Mairs still fears that peoples kindness is out of pity. The stigma around physical disfigurement and being crippled causes added suffering to her life. Although the disease dictates much of her existence,†¦show more content†¦The drastic changes in Maris’ life forced her to reevaluate the way the thought about everyday existence. The way she goes about living is drastically different than those around her. Mairs commented on her own life saying, â€Å"Of late, I have begun to catch myself wondering how people can propel themselves without canes† (Mairs 67). She has become used to her disability and this has created a disconnect between her and the rest of the world. While others are free of even giving a thought to what she handles everyday, she has a adapted into a way of thinking that accommodates to her life. Even the way she perceived others interactions was changed and she feared that any act of kindness from others was out of pity and shame. The author has completely altered the way she interacts with the world because of just one single part of her life. People become used to thinking of their lives in a certain way, not objectively as just a part of society. Throughout her emotional journey, she had to accept who she was. Even as Mairs still suffers, she has learned to handle herself in the face of adversity. She is forced to handle the fact that there is little that she can do to combat her cond ition. In contrast to her feelings at the beginning of her journey when she focused on the amount that her disease was ruining her life, she became able to not let that define her. She is aware ofShow MoreRelatedReview of Mairs Autobiography Entitled, On Being a Cripple Essay600 Words   |  3 Pages â€Å"On Being a Cripple† is placed under the genre of autobiography because it focuses on a significant personal experience in Mairs’ past and draws out the meaning as she tells her story and reflects on her experiences. The key factors of an autobiographical essay include dramatic events or episodes, vivid details and narration, and an interweaving of narration with reflection on and interpretation of the essayist’s experiences (Norton xxvii). This essay focuses on Mairs’ experiences and personalRead MoreAnalysis Of Nancy Mairs s On Being A Cripple 1083 Words   |  5 PagesIn Nancy Mairs On Being a Cripple, she deliberates the relationship between the English Language, American Society, and her struggle with multiple sclerosis (MS). Mairs criticizes people for wincing at the word cripple, and using terms like â€Å"differently abled,† because they lack reality and accuracy. She equivalents society’s inability to accept crippledness with death, war, sex, sweat, and wrinkles. Through the usage of ethos, pathos, logos and other rhetorical devices, she effectively tellsRead MoreAnalysis Of Nancy Mairs s On Being A Cripple1187 Words   |  5 PagesNancy Mairs is the author of the controversial essay On Being a Cripple. Here, she writes of her experiences dealing with the degenerative disease, Multiple Sclerosis, on a daily basis as well as her preferences on the proper terms are for what to call a person who is disabilities. Although she uses the term crippled to describe herself, she believes that no one should use it to describe another. Her argument, though it stands on unstable grounds, is effective in bringing attention in sharing oneRead MoreOn Being a Cripple, by Nancy Mairs1276 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"On Being a Cripple†, Nancy Mairs In her essay â€Å"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 disabilitiesRead MorePersonal Analysis : On Being Cripple By Nancy Maris1002 Words   |  5 Pagesif it is being approached incorrectly. When life throws you unexpected curveballs it can knock you off your feet and have you feeling disoriented. To remain balanced, human beings need to push through the obstacles and flip the situation to their own advantage in a positive way. In order to be able to handle various complications during life human beings must practice accepting the reality of problems, learn to look at life in a pos itive aspect by searching for light in darkness and being optimisticRead MoreRhetorical Analysis of Being a Cripple761 Words   |  4 Pagespity and sympathy from others, but do cripples always want this? In this passage entitled â€Å"On Being a Cripple,† Nancy Mairs uses interesting word choice, repetition, and a sarcastic tone to touch upon a subject that most mature non-crippled Americans are not entirely comfortable with; using the so widely feared word â€Å"cripple† instead of the common â€Å"handicapped† or â€Å"disabled† to be polite or politically correct. Elaborating to a society, so infatuated with being politically correct, that using a wordRead MoreThe Effects Of Imperialism In George Orwells Shooting An Elephant1633 Words   |  7 Pagesbecause together it makes her a reliable source through years of experience. The author’s claim is still valid today because many people still rely on keeping a notebook as a relief from daily lif e or to write things that are important to them, me being included in that number.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Example: Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence In The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson uses the facts and opinions of Americans of the time to challenge the authority of Great Britain and conveyRead MoreComparing Mairs And The Myth Of A Latin Wom I Just Met A Girl Named Maria1328 Words   |  6 PagesAs human beings, we like to put labels on people around us to help us identify them. Most of these people around us are strangers and we do not know any personal detail about them. We tend to identify them based on their appearance, rather than who or how they are as people. We are often unaware of the impacts our labels have on these people. In the essay â€Å" On being a cripple† by Nancy Mairs and â€Å" The Myth of a Latin woman : I Just Met a Girl Named Maria† by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the writers have successfullyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Beauty : When The Other Dancer Is The Self By Alice Walker882 Words   |  4 PagesWalker, Angelou, Eighner and Mairs, teach about accepting yourself and overco ming personal problems in there essays on personal accounts. By contrast Williams, Quindlen and Kristof articles talk of issues in today’s society and how as a group we can solve these issues in essays covering cultural and the environment. These articles became some of my favorites throughout the semester for being able to relate so easily, but also the joy of reading the authors stories to be able to improve my own writingRead MoreAnalysis of Disability by Nancy Mairs1019 Words   |  5 Pages(Eng203) Critical analysis of â€Å"Disability† by Nancy Mairs Priscilla Farah May 11, 2012 Author of disability Nancy Mairs who’s a feminist and a cripple, has accomplished a lot in writing and teaching. Her remarkable personality shows in many of her essays especially in Disability which was first published in 1987 in the New York Times. In this essay, Nancy Mairs shows how disabled people are constantly excluded, especially from the media. By giving out facts and including her personal experiences