Sara Cordle's Essay About Superstitions

In, Albatross in the Red Sky on Friday: Does Irrational Superstition on the Great Lakes Make a Difference? Sara E. Cordle shares her thoughts. She writes her audience an essay in which she claims that superstitions do in fact make a difference on the great lakes. This paper will inform and engage audiences in a correct and accurate manor. Her use of objectivity, style, and evidence of her work prove that this is a successful piece of writing. In Cordle’s work, she expresses her thoughts and ideas on why she believes superstitions do affect sailors. Many of the superstitions that she mentions include the renaming of a vessel, the presence of rats on a ship, and cats aboard ships. Even though some of these superstitions may not be true, the author tells us that superstitions can cause fear and anxiety in sailors or crewmen. She emphasizes to us that how sailors react to anxiety and fear is more effective than one would think. This results in effects over their physiological health. Ultimately, the …show more content…
If rats are seen or not present, it could mean two things. Cordle says, “The majority of sailors believe that rats will not inhabit an unseaworthy ship” (114). With this being said, one can conclude that not having rats on a ship is actually a bad thing. Cordle tests this superstition by doing her research. A key to testing this superstition is to actually see if it is true with evidence. Cordle provides her readers with two different examples of events that essentially occurred with rats. Cordle shares with her readers:
An example of rats’ survival instincts predicting the fate of a ship is shown in the story of Ste. Marie in November of 1886. Minutes before launching the ship, half of the crew witnessed nearly three dozen rats scurrying to dry land. Being superstitious sailors, half of the crew left the ship and did not proceed with the launching.