Living Under Circe's Spell

In the short essays “On Being a Cripple,” by Nancy Mairs, and “Living Under Circe’s Spell,” by Matthew Soyster, two different authors expose what their life was like after being diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis). The first essay is a piece that discusses years of dealing with this chronic degenerative disease, reflecting on what it has taught the author, how it has made her a better person, and also talks a lot about how society should treat the disabled as normal people. The second is a much shorter narrative where the author talks about his briefer experience with MS and the immediate emotions felt when he first faced challenges of the disease that ruined the course his future had been set on, focusing mainly on himself rather than the broad perspective of society. Both of these stories incorporate specific tone to make their stories more interesting and drive their opinions on how disabled people should be viewed. Using tone is one of the easiest ways an author can portray how they feel about a subject aside from flat out stating it. Both Mairs and Soyster successfully do this in their stories, but with different tones about the same topic. Mairs was never into sports or had big plans for the future that depended on being able to be active, so, “[she is] lucky that [her] predilections were already solitary, sedentary, and bookish,” except she can no longer return to a full-time job, “but [she has] enjoyed [her] studies,” (2). Mairs illustrates this quote with an optimistic outlook, however, the use of “but” in that last section acts as a dash of regret hidden within the rest of the tone. Acknowledging being “lucky” and “enjoying [her] studies” is a way for her …show more content…
The pull of pathos and sway in syntax are just two of the tools they seamlessly embody throughout the pieces alongside their tone to achieve this