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Sharon M. Draper's Out Of My Mind

1157 Words5 Pages

“2.2 million people in the United States depend on a wheelchair for day-to-day tasks and mobility. 6.5 million people use a cane, a walker, or crutches to assist with their mobility”. Every single day, people varying in ages, struggle to live their lives due to conditions out of their control. Whether it be life threatening or not, it can have effects that are both socially and emotionally harming. Although some of them may change appearances on the outside, other people cannot forget that all people, not matter the disability, have brains and personalities of their own that may not be seen to the human eye. The book Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper, shares the story of Melody, a girl who is much more than her cerebral palsy: she is brilliant. …show more content…

Draper, makes me wonder what it would be like to live in her shoes for a day. In the novel, Melody expresses the frustrations of the obstacles she deals with in her every day life, whether it be at school or at home. From the outside perspective, Melody looks like she is just a kid with a disability, but she is much more. Melodies intelligence is hidden behind the mask of her condition. The majority of people would not be able to recognize this about her, and would end up going ahead and judging her for something she has no control over. People need to understand that Melody, along with others have feelings too and can get hurt with words. Anyone could learn a valuable lesson from Melody, as I have learned to be more appreciative for a voice and legs that can walk. The human race needs to realize that they should not be wasting their voice on making fun of other people and should not be wasting mobility on physically hurting others. People no matter their state of health are still people, and it should not matter if they have a disability: “a person is so much more than the name of a diagnosis on a chart!” (23). ***CLOSING

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He says, “ ‘Mrs. Brooks,’ he then said, ‘it is my opinion that Melody is severely brain-damaged and profoundly retarded.’ ” (p. 15). Though Melody is not at all dumb, she is the only one that knows that. She is out of her mind, because it drives her

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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.

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Sharon M. Draper has used character and an engaging plot to create a novel of contemporary realistic fiction about an eleven-year-old girl living with cerebral palsy. Even though every reader cannot relate to having a disability, almost every reader can relate to Melody’s desire to fit in and be accepted by her peers. Draper uses Melody’s internal dialogue (she is unable to speak) to reveal her personal journey and perspective. The plot further reveals Melody’s internal and external struggles as she tries to merge her world with that of her peers. While the plot flows logically, Draper adds a twist when our protagonist is left behind and misses the competition.

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Nancy Mairs, a feminist writer who has Multiple Sclerosis, defines the terms in which she interest the most with the world. Nancy Mairs will name herself a cripple and not be by others. She will choose a word that represents her reality for example in the beginning of her story she mentioned about her being in the bathroom trying to come up with a story about cripples. She was in the handicap bathroom and when she tried to open the door she fell, landing fully clothed on the toilet seat with her legs splayed in front of her and she said “the old beetle -on-it’s back routine.”

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The book, Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper is centered around the life of a eleven year old girl, Melody Brooks, struggling with an extreme case of cerebral palsy. Melody is stuck in a wheelchair and can not talk but, she has a photographic memory. Melody first describes how her school started “inclusion classes” for the disabled students where they go to classes with average students. Melody realized that she knew a lot of the information the teacher would describe and she so badly wanted to answer questions but she was unable do

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In the article, “When Wheelchairs Are Cool”, the author, Ben Mattlin discusses why he believes it is okay for able bodied people to ride around in wheelchairs and take on the look of a disabled person, but it is not okay if you are making fun of disabled people. It is also not acceptable for people that are bound to wheelchairs to take advantage of able bodied people’s sympathy for their situation whether it be through accepting free things or getting a discount. The main strategy Mattlin uses to persuade his reader is pathos, particularly humor which creates a light tone throughout the article. Also, Mattlin proves his credibility and proves his point by planning the time at which he published his article. Mattlin’s main claim in his article is that being in a wheelchair is not as bad as it seems.

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In the book Out Of My Mind by Sharon M Draper, the main character, Melody, makes several very big decisions. Melody was born with Cerebral Palsy which basically means she cannot do many things the others do daily like walk, talk, and move at all. As Melody gets older she becomes more and more aware of the outside world and how she is different. When she is put into a class with normal kids she feels happy but embarrassed and scared. Melody makes a life changing decision to participate in class and be social.

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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.

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Waist High In the World is a novel that focuses on the importance of accepting everyone with dignity and respect despite their disabilities and differences. The author of the book, Nancy Mairs purpose when writing the book was to create awareness and share her experience as a “cripple” in order to create consciousness and understanding of those who are going through the same process. Mairs uses different persuasive strategies to convince readers to want a world with people like her in it, this includes the use of pathos, logos and ethos.

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This is especially frustrating for Melody, because she is unusually smart, but is usually not seen as this by others, because of their ableist prejudice. Melody has a photographic memory. Melodys thoughts throughout the novel reveal that she has never been able to speak a single word, which led most people to assume she is cognitively impaired as well as physically. However, her parents were revealed to have been able to “see the

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People with disabilities and their caretakers are stigmatized for not being able to keep up, but they are not viewed as not having a “real” disability if they are too productive. Instead of viewing this as a symptom for their disease or disability, Hillyer believes this is a healthier way of living, and she encourages her readers to adopt similar techniques for managing their responsibilities. She especially criticizes the unrealistic, fast-paced speed that women are expected to maintain, despite personal obstacles. Hillyer, having lived in the intersection between the feminist and disability communities for most of her life, emphasizes the importance of allowing women to abandon the traditional concept of a highly productive “superwoman” and instead replace it with the knowledge that every woman dealing with a disease or disability, in themselves or loved ones, is a

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When people hear handicap they think not able to care for themselves. Nancy wants to be known as a tough individual able to take care of herself. The reader can feel the agony of what Nancy is feeling. The tone of this passage is determination and agony. Nancy feels that cripple is more stronger word than “handicap” or ‘disabled.”

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Melody's family and teachers have to learn to accept her the most. Only the people close to her understand her disability. That's why she goes crazy and has her so called "tornado attacks" because people don't understand her. Melody shows that she is intelligent, because she makes the whiz kids team and is the only student ever to get a perfect score on the test to get on the whiz kids team.

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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.

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Disabled people are people who have mental or physical limitation so they depend on someone to support them in doing their daily life needs and jobs. Although disabled people are a minority and they are normally ignored, they are still a part of the society. The statistics show that the proportion of disabled people in the world rose from 10 percent in the seventies of the last century to 15 percent so far. The number of handicapped exceeds a billion people all over the world, occupied about 15 percent of the world's population, as a result of an aging population and the increase in chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, blood and psychological diseases that are related with disabilities and impairments. Every five seconds someone

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