The non-fiction article “Rick Hansen: No Walls Too Big to Climb” written by Mary Beth Leatherdale is a powerful article about a man named Rick Hansen who was encountered in a hitch hiking accident. Unfortunately, Rick injured his spinal cord causing him to never walk again. While reading this article I made multiple connections such as, text to self and text to world. I made strong text to self connections. Although my connection is nothing compared to what Rick Hansen went through. I connected to the part when he said “Were committed to this thing” (page 45), although there was a point that Rick thought he couldn’t do it and was willing to give up and had accepted that maybe its time to move on, he kept on trying. My connection to that …show more content…
sentence is when I was learning to ride my bicycle, in 1st grade. Learning how to ride a bicycle was the hardest thing to do for a six year old. I fell down and sometimes didn’t want to get back up again and try. But there was something in my head telling me I needed to keep trying, and so I did. Just like Rick Hansen did, he later than managed to wheelchair around the whole world. Another connection I made was the part when it said “working to overcome these obstacles” (page 45). I connected with this sentence because I believe that I am a hard working student. I accomplish many things and even when I have other things to do I make sure I finish what I started. The next connections I will make is a text to world connection.
I specifically made a connection to the part when it said “Rick realized that he too could raise awareness of the physical and mental barriers that disable people face” (page 44). That sentence relates to 31 year old Spencer West. He was born with sacral agenesis, a genetic disorder causing him to have no limbs waist down. Spencer decided to climb mountain Kilimanjaro. Spencer worked day and night to climb up that mountain with his two friends. They made it to the top of the mountain saying it was all worth it. He said “I set out to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro not only to redefine what's possible for me, but to inspire others to overcome obstacles and challenges of their own, and to give back to communities, that need our help reaching the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro was the most mentally and physically challenging thing I have ever done, but in doing so, it reinforced the powerful message behind believing in yourself, and believing in others so many people made this journey possible for me and I am so humbled by everyone's support”. Still to this day this article inspires me to do what I believe in. The second text to world connection I made is with the part when he said “After the accident he started coaching”. That reminds me of 51 year old Sudha Chandran lost her leg to a terrible accident at the age of 16 due to that her leg had to be amputated .Even though she had barely any use of her right leg she became one of
the most accomplished dancers ever. Just like Rich, even though his old life was gone didn’t mean he had to cry and regret instead the made the most of it In conclusion, this non-fiction article is very powerful and can make you connect too many different things. This story has allowed me to make many connections with myself and our environment.
Life is like an ascent, the more you climb, the higher you will get. J. C. Burke skilfully undertakes this philosophy as a source of inspiration for ‘The story of Tom Brennan’. It is not another crazy adventurous tale with a heroic storyline that seems unrealistic; the novel is about individual representation as Burke insightfully illustrates the long and slow journey of Tom Brennan, navigating through his road of self-discovery that eventually leads to his destination and achieves his “ticket out of the past” (Burke, pg 182).
All these and more evidences used in the book support Peterson’s thesis and purpose—all of them discuss how having a disability made Peterson and others in her situation a part of the “other”. Her personal experience on media and
In Craig Lesley’s novel The Sky Fisherman, he illustrates the full desire of direction and the constant flow of life. A boy experiences a chain of life changing series of events that cause him to mature faster than a boy should. Death is an obstacle that can break down any man, a crucial role in the circle of life. It’s something that builds up your past and no direction for your future. No matter how hard life got, Culver fought through the pain and came out as a different person. Physical pain gives experience, emotional pain makes men.
Nancy Mairs, born in 1943, described herself as a radical feminist, pacifist, and cripple. She is crippled because she has multiple sclerosis (MS), which is a chronic disease involving damage to the nerve cells and spinal cord. In her essay Disability, Mairs’ focus is on how disabled people are portrayed, or rather un-portrayed in the media. There is more than one audience that Mairs could have been trying to reach out to with this piece. The less-obvious audience would be disabled people who can connect to her writing because they can relate to it. The more obvious audience would be physically-able people who have yet to notice the lack of disabled people being portrayed by the media. Her purpose is to persuade the audience that disabled people should be shown in the media more often, to help society better cope with and realize the presence of handicapped people. Mairs starts off by saying “For months now I’ve been consciously searching for representation of myself in the media, especially television. I know I’d recognize this self becaus...
“I am a Cripple,” when people typically hear these words, they tend to feel bad for that person, but that is exactly what Mair does not want. She prefers that people treat her the same way they would if she did not have the disease. Throughout the essay, Mair discusses her disease openly. She uses an optimistic tone, so that the reader will not recoil with sadness when they hear her discuss the disease and how it affects her life. In Nancy Mair’s essay “On Being A Cripple,” Mair uses her personal stories, diction, and syntactical structures to create an optimistic tone throughout the essay, so that the audience can better connect with the story.
As mentioned previously, the chances of becoming disabled over one’s lifetime are high, yet disabled people remain stigmatized, ostracized, and often stared upon. Assistant Professor of English at Western Illinois University, Mark Mossman shares his personal experience as a kidney transplant patient and single-leg amputee through a written narrative which he hopes will “constitute the groundwork through which disabled persons attempt to make themselves, to claim personhood or humanity” while simultaneously exploiting the “palpable tension that surrounds the visibly disabled body” (646). While he identifies the need for those with limitations to “make themselves” or “claim personhood or humanity,” Siebers describes their desires in greater detail. He suggests people with
Renowned motivational speaker Tony Gaskins once said, “Communication to a relationship is like oxygen to life. Without it…it dies” (Live Life Happy). For instance, the ignorance of the narrator in Kevin Brockmeier’s “The Ceiling,” showcases how oblivious he is to his wife’s infidelity growing, as an equally disturbing surface descends from the sky upon his town. While the object approaches the earth and becomes more apparent, his marriage is falling apart to the point of no return. The text illustrates how the lack of acknowledgement or emotional presence from a spouse will often result in a failed marriage. This is demonstrated through the unobservant nature of the narrator and his troubled wife, the symbolic significance of the “ceiling”
This tone is also used to establish an appeal to pathos which he hopes to convince the audience of the fact that handicapped people are still people and not less than anyone else. A very prominent example of Peace’s emotion is displayed when he says, “Like many disabled people, I embrace an identity that is tied to my body. I have been made to feel different, inferior, since I began using a wheelchair thirty years ago and by claiming that I am disabled and proud, I am empowered,” (para. 15). This declaration demonstrates to his audience that Peace is honored by who he is and what disabled people can do and that he is tired of being oppressed by the media. Peace also makes this claim to support his thesis in the first paragraph that states, “The negative portrayal of disabled people is not only oppressive but also confirms that nondisabled people set the terms of the debate about the meaning of disability,” (para. 1). This is Peace’s central argument for the whole article and explains his frustration with society’s generalization of handicapped people and the preconceived limitations set on them. Peace’s appeal to pathos and tone throughout are extremely effective in displaying to his audience (society) that those who have disabilities are fed up with the limits that have been placed in the
‘“Now it’s my turn to make it better for generations that come after, which is why I’ve become, involved in disabilities issues”’ (Open University, 2016a).
Disability is a ‘complex issue’ (Alperstein, M., Atkins, S., Bately, K., Coetzee, D., Duncan, M., Ferguson, G., Geiger, M. Hewett, G., et al.., 2009: 239) which affects a large percentage of the world’s population. Due to it being complex, one can say that disability depends on one’s perspective (Alperstein et al., 2009: 239). In this essay, I will draw on Dylan Alcott’s disability and use his story to further explain the four models of disability being The Traditional Model, The Medical Model, The Social Model and The Integrated Model of Disability. Through this, I will reflect on my thoughts and feelings in response to Dylan’s story as well as to draw on this task and my new found knowledge of disability in aiding me to become
Dan and Betsy go through their emotions on hearing about Samuel condition of cerebral palsy. The roll coaster of emotion they felt. As a parent I could relate to their emotion of having a child with disabilities. I would love my child regards of condition but the emotion I would feel would be fear. Dan and Betsy both went through fear; asking themselves what about his education, and interaction with others. I would have those same question; as
Due to this disease the body is slowly broken down by affecting the central nervous system of a person’s body. The children depicted in the essay are probably an example how fellow human beings should be around a disabled person. They just view the disabled person as another human being and respect them the same way. The children are proud to associate themselves with Mairs and do not shy away from introducing her to the general public. This is what a disabled person requires: that all those around him or her should respect them for what they are and give them unconditional regard
Gonzales, Laurence. Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why: True Stories of Miraculous Endurance and Sudden Death. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2003. Print.
In the essay “Disability,” Nancy Mairs discusses the lack of media attention for the disabled, writing: “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anyone’s life.” An ordinary person has very little exposure to the disabled, and therefore can only draw conclusions from what is seen in the media. As soon as people can picture the disabled as regular people with a debilitating condition, they can begin to respect them and see to their needs without it seeming like an afterthought or a burden. As Mairs wrote: “The fact is that ours is the only minority you can join involuntarily, without warning, at any time.” Looking at the issue from this angle, it is easy to see that many disabled people were ordinary people prior to some sort of accident. Mairs develops this po...
The story envokes the realization that anyone can be mentally liberated if they simply only open their eyes and behold the value of individuality. It is up to each of us to explore this meaning. Through compassion we can unlock the true purpose and meaning of ourselves and others. We need to be open to and understanding of people who are different. Therefore, students who are mentally challenged need to be surrounded by those who dare to add value to their lives. We definitely need more people like the coach.