“I am a cripple”, when people usually hear these words, they tend to feel bad for that person, but that is exactly what Mair doesn't want. She prefers that people treat her the same way as if she didn't have the disease. Throughout the essay, Mair speaks openly about her illness. She uses an optimistic tone, so that the reader does not recoil in sadness when they hear her talk about the illness and how it affects her life. In Nancy Mair's essay "On Being A Cripple," Mair uses her personal stories, diction, and syntactic structures to create an optimistic tone throughout the essay, so that the audience can better connect the story. Mair uses her personal stories to create a more relaxed atmosphere. and your optimistic tone. She opens the story with humor by saying: "...I fell backwards, landing fully clothed on the toilet seat, legs spread in front of me: the old beetle-on-the-back routine...I was free to laugh during that I got back on my feet” (Mair 1). As Mair probably knows, the first paragraph usually sets the tone for the story, and Mair uses her comedic story line to lighten the mood., ...