In “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, she describes her eventful life as a cripple and her journey to adjusting to a new way of life. “I am not a disease” is something the author says to tell readers that disabled people should not be looked at any differently. It is very clear throughout this piece that Mairs wants the readers to be more informed about cripples and possibly understand what one is going through. Anyone that is a cripple would most likely enjoy this piece and be able to relate to her feelings and experiences. Nancy Mairs is successful in the purpose of her piece by using a sad but humorous tone.
While doing so, Mairs uses logic, humor, and an optimistic tone to break the societal attitude towards people with disabilities, portraying her success and the positivity throughout her life with multiple
A disability can make someone look at a "disabled" person in a specific way, even though they are just as capable as others of doing things. Some people don't realize the impact someone with a disability can have on the world because they are limited and criticized for their issues. People without disabilities can show what they have, and those with disabilities will never even get past the starting line because of people's biased views on disabilities. After listening to the Ted Talk by Keith Nolan, a private cadet, he established ethos, logos, and pathos through his educational speech on the deaf in the military. In the Ted Talk, Keith Nolan backs up his story with emotion, statistics, credible information, and real-life experience.
Claim: Beyond conventional sense, there is pride and beauty to be found in disabled bodies despite traditional societal contempt for such bodies. In conversation with Waldemar Januszcak: Indeed, the timeless artistic style that was used in sculpting Allison Lapper is criticism of long-standing exaltation of impossible physical ideals. It is the contrast in Lapper’s form and the idea of misrepresentation that exemplify the desperate human struggle towards a certain notion of beauty, and an equally subjective notion of ugliness. The irony is that in a sense, both types of bodies are exceptional: one because it can never be achieved, and one because it will never be desired, leaving humankind caught in the middle.
Leaving people who have a disability out of things and forgetting about them hurts their feelings. For instance, in Mairs’ essay she says “…you might feel as though you don’t exist, in any meaningful social sense, at all” (14). No one wants to feel that way, but people who have a disability go through it all the time. The media’s influence may convince people who have a disability to feel as if they’re an outsider since they have a “shameful” part of
In Eli Clare’s essay titled “The Mountain”, she writes about her disability and how societal attitudes about it affects her experience of her own body.
Murphy lacks mobility and sensation in his lower body other than the feeling of occasional muscle spasms, and has limited movement in his upper body below the neck including his arms. Murphy writes the story as it recounts events throughout his entire life, from childhood onwards. He was sixty-two when he wrote the novel. The story provides Murphy’s anthropological commentary on the life of a person with a disability and how society views and treats people with disabilities (Murphy, 1990). Murphy’s performance patterns both support and inhibit his occupational engagement.
n Nancy Mairs essay, “Disability”, she illustrates the lack of representation of people with disabilities in the media. While disability plays a major role in Mairs’ life, she points out the various ways her everyday life is ordinary and even mundane. Despite the normalcy of the lives of citizens with disabilities Mairs argues the media’s effacement of this population, is fear driven. She claims, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about the disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life” (Mairs 14). Able bodied people worry about the prospect of eventually becoming physically impaired.
The House Committee on Un-American Activities’ (HUAC) investigation in the 1950s accused figures who exercised their freedom of speech, leading to mistrust between the citizens and government, thus proving those in power have the tendency to abuse it and citizens must be vigilant in speaking up against the government. HUAC’s role was to investigate communist infiltration in the government and social figures. In the questioning of Arthur Miller, the officials of HUAC believed that since Miller believed it was socially acceptable to write about communism, he was directly supporting and encouraging it. Miller was outraged at this accusation, and expressed to HUAC the fault in their accusation by saying, “You fail to draw a line between advocacy and essence. Our law is based upon acts, not thought”.
When someone thinks of someone with a disability, they usually feel bad for them. They will also associate the word disability with a disadvantage. What if that wasn't true? What if instead of being at a disadvantage, people with disabilities just have to look at the task differently? As Oscar Pistorius, the
The Religion of Disability: How Flannery O’Connor Uses the Concept of Disability in “The Lame Shall Enter First” In her short story, “The Lame Shall Enter First” Flannery O’Connor shares the tale of a self-righteous reformatory counselor, Sheppard, who forgoes the raising of his own son to embark on a quest to improve the life of a young miscreant, Rufus Johnson, who has a clubbed foot. Eventually after devoting all his time and effort to the saving of this young boy, Sheppard realizes the selfish nature of his actions, but it is too late to save to save his own son. O’Connor employs disability perceptions through the contrasting ideas of confinement and freedom as well as the idea of moral superiority.
William Shakespeare is regarded as one of the greatest English writers, playwrites, and poets of all time. In his speech to college freshmen titled "Why Read Shakespeare," Michael Mack offers insight as to why students should envelop themselves in Shakespearean literature. Mack cites key reasons that exemplify the relevance of Shakespeare's works to our daily lives. Because of the clear connections to daily life and emotional appeals he makes, Michael Mack is indeed effective in persuading his audience to read Shakespeare.
The novel Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes effectively explores the complex human experiences of disability and the impact that it has on individuals and society through its three major themes; Self-realisation , Alienation and loneliness and treatment of the mentally disabled by society. Through these themes this response will highlight the difficulties experienced by people with disabilities and the people in their lives. The first theme in Flowers for Algernon is self-realisation. Charlie’s new found knowledge has allowed him to have the ability to voice his needs and wants for understanding, acceptance, and love.
In the essay, “On Being a Cripple,” Nancy Mairs uses humorous diction and a positive tone to educate people about life as a cripple and struggles of people with disabilities. She does this to show how hard it is to be disabled and how it differs from the life of someone without a disability. She talks about the struggles and the fears that disabled people must deal with on a daily basis. Mairs use of rhetoric creates a strong sense of connection and understanding for the reader. Nancy Mairs is successful in using detailed imagery, diction, and tone to educate her readers about the difficulties of living with a disability.
In philosophy it is used to focus on the individual’s conscious, perceptual and intellectual processes, excluding preconceptions and the idea of external consequences (Gregory, 1987). Phenomenology is a philosophical method aimed at getting at the truth - it aims to achieve clarity of insight and thought while including the subject. It makes a distinction between appearance and essence. It is a very appropriate philosophical method to apply to the theory and practice of art therapy. (Carpendale, 2003)
