It's Not About the Bike: Week 4, Post A

VOCAB

Remission: The act of submitting or referring for consideration or judgement (121).
Ifosfamide: A chemotherapy drug used with all types of cancer (125).

APPEALS

"Seven days after the brain surgery, I went home. I would be back to the hospital soon enough. But at least I was beginning to talk this thing down to size" (125). This is an emotional appeal, because it makes you feel that Lance was beginning to cope, which is an important thing. Also, it makes you just kinda feel bad for Lance, but makes you want to get through it with him.

"I began to get good news. None of my sponsors were bailing out on me" (123). This is a logical appeal because it's a fact (none of his sponsors were leaving him even though he may never return to biking again) and also it was put at the beginning of the paragraph because it was such an important fact. He had no medical insurance and this fact just assures readers that he is going to be fine.

"This is the real McCoy [...] This is what it means to be sick" (134). This is an emotional appeal because it tells the readers that he's finally beginning to feel the pain and the effects of chemo. It makes the readers feel sorry for him, but at the same time it shows us readers that even the toughest people can be hurt from the smallest things.

QUOTE

"One day I noticed strange marks on my skin, almost like faint brown stains. They were chemo burns" (134). This is an important quote because it means the effect of the therapy is starting to appear. Lance thought it would be bad, but he assumed he would be tough enough to take it. This can just show us that just because you're physically strong doesn't mean you are invincible. Which just brings up my theme...

THEME

There are many types of Stregnth. Lance discovers this first hand because while he may be the toughest cyclist on the planet, thats got nothing to do with how strong he is versus cancer.