Nancy Mairs On Being A Cripple Essay

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As a child, you are taught to treat handicapped or crippled people like they are divergent or fragile, but do they really want to be treated like this? Nancy Mairs, born in Long Beach and raised in Boston, is a highly respected poet, essayist, and teacher: in her article, “On Being a Cripple,” she uses word choice and repetition to talk about an issue that affects her life massively, that other Americans might feel uncomfortable talking about. Mairs explains how society treats her based on her condition, she also describes how the word “cripple” should be an accepted term rather than one that is winced (Mairs) upon, but she's also trying to get the point across that she's much more than her disease. In her article, Mairs uses word choice and repetition to describe her feelings on being a cripple and what she wishes people did differently when talking or referring to crippled people. Throughout the article, Mairs uses many different words to describe herself and her life. The audience can tell that many of these words may be negative, for example, when she said “My life often seems a series of small failures to do as I ought.”(Mairs, 8) and “I’ve been a little cracked ever since.”(Mairs, 16) She uses …show more content…
She uses this to approach the audience, and make them think if they confront the word, it would make them more likely to read the article for her, rather than for her disease. Mairs also repeats the phrase, “life wrenched by change and loss, change and loss,”(Mairs 30) to show how change and loss repeats in her life. Mairs also repeats the word “lucky,” for example, when she said “overall I’ve been lucky so far,” and when she said “I am lucky that my predilections were already solitary.” Some people might find this surprising because lucky isn’t a word often used when talking about crippled

Nancy Mairs Cripple

In the essay, Nancy Mairs who has multiple sclerosis refers to herself as crippled. She doe this without the use of any euphemisms as she believes " 'cripple' seems to me a clean word, straightforward and precise." Mairs is not embarrassed or ashamed of who she is, instead she embraces it through diction, tone and rhetorical structure. " I am a cripple." This is how Mairs starts her piece; she starts it by stating facts. She uses a formal diction but one that is still comprehensible. To state her…

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Nancy Mairs On Being A Cripple Summary

In the essay, “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, she identifies herself as a cripple instead of using the politically correct term “handicapped”. She chooses to identify as a cripple because that is how she sees herself. There has always been the argument of nature vs nurture, and whether a person’s identity is made up from their DNA or determined by external factors like life experiences and the…

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Response Essay

Nu Nguyen English 1A February 26th, 2013 “On Being A Cripple” Response Essay In the article, “On Being A Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, she tells the reader how she lives her life as a cripple with MS, explaining the hardships that she goes through, but is able to show how positive she can be. There are many instances where Mairs runs into trouble in her everyday life, but she is able to laugh about it which is tough to do for many people. Mairs gives many examples how she lives her life like any other…

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Nancy Mairs On Being A Cripple Summary

“On Being a Cripple” is written by Nancy Mairs and is a collection in the book, “The Norton Reader”. Mairs’ essay wrote about her life as being an MS patient. From how she found out she got MS to the later stage of her life. Her main theme is to encourage us —readers— should be thankful and delightful with what we presently own. Also, imply that patients with similar symptoms should be treated like an ordinary person. By mentioning little stories the happened about her after being diagnosed with…

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Nancy Mairs On Being A Cripple Summary

but is still a taboo subject to discuss. In Nancy Mairs’ essay, “On Being a Cripple”, she shares personal experiences caused by MS and addresses the different ways others refer to those with this disability. Through this Mairs creates logos, pathos, and ethos in her work and along with humor she relates to the reader to convince them of the importance of clear, precise language. After opening with an anecdote describing the unfortunate event where Mairs fell into the toilet, she continues on to explain…

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Nancy Mairs On Being A Cripple Analysis

In Nancy Mairs’ essay “On Being a Cripple” (1986), she asserts that having MS does not define her as a person. Mairs develops her ideas through ethos, pathos, and diction. Using anecdotes, she discusses her experiences in order to inform people of her disability. Mairs addresses those without disabilities that pity those who have disabilities first with a wistful tone that later shifts into a confident tone. Mairs opens her essay by describing her life before MS, a time “infinitely more pleasant…

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On Being A Cripple Analysis

A Change In Life Even though a similar event may occur, the interpretation afterwards can vary immensely. In the article “Living Under Circe’s Spell” by Matthew Soyster and “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, a specific tone is used to showcase the emotion in each piece of writing. The writers are able to suggest a general idea of their individual take on the specific type of lifestyle they live. Both authors are able to portray a mood that is entirely different from the other by using the literary…

Words 1068 - Pages 5