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,” by providing a narrative with personal anecdotes. Through ethos, the author establishes her character from before she was crippled by informing readers of the transition of her life from before she was diagnosed to her experience being diagnosed.
