Superstitions And Taboos example essay topic

I'm doing my speech on superstitions. W ulp wish me luck, break a leg, knock on wood. Superstitions, what are they and where did they come from? Are they true are they false or is there some sort of reasoning behind them? Or are they simply just a whole lot of mum bo jumbo. I mean... a man there goes a black cat man talk about bad luck it just took off with any luck that I had, (gosh darn - click fingers well lets see if its true...

Mrs Maslin ya reckon am I gonna get an A for this or what? C'mon c'mon you can tell me. Damn you cat (shake fist). Where did that superstition come from? For heavens sake how pathetic is it!

Anyways for most people these are simply old wives tales and silly misconstrued stories, happenings and events. But for others these are real, they believe every word of these. For centuries people have been fascinated by these superstitions. Superstitions have bewitched, bemused and befuddled the minds of millions, billions of innocent people.

Because believing superstitions is simply showing ignorance and fear of the unknown. This is why so many people have fallen into the traps and beliefs that are superstitions, taboos. These superstitions have been deeply influential in history. You look back in history and you " ll find them 600,700 back in time. To me superstitions are simply beliefs or practices with no rational substance to them, for instance, ok a bird, if a bird flies into the house it is a sign of death.

Now in all honesty can you tell me that you can find any reasoning in that at all. Cos that ain't true birds have flown into our house and you don't see me dead (well dear) bad example, but no one I even know has dropped dead all a sudden after a bird flew in my house. When you look at them most superstitions and taboos have to do with some kind of luck be it good or bad. No one is 100% certain why this is but is believed to have been started centuries ago. Peoples knowledge of things around them was limited so when people were having bad luck and something good happened to them, they decided that it must have something to do with superstition a taboo so it became a superstition. And the other way round they had good luck something bad happened it was a superstition.

The origins of just about every superstition has been lost in time never to be found because people never wrote them down they just passed them down from generation to generation. So the origins of them will probably be lost for ever. The Webster dictionary states superstition as: 1. An ignorant or irrational belief, often provoked by fear, and is based on an assumption of cause and effect, contrary to known scientific facts and principles. 2.

Any practice inspired by such beliefs. 3. An unreasonable belief or impression. I ask you now, what will bring us luck? A horseshoe, throwing salt over your left shoulder, who knows? And what about bad luck, Friday the 13th, a black cat, (meow), a ww man where was I? , walking under a ladder, a cracked mirror.

The list just keeps growing, I mean when you look at it people have made superstitions out of just about everything, have you ever heard the saying, if at first that superstition is taken then what the hell make up another one. Well probably not cos I like came up with it but it might as well be one because its true if one superstition is taken someone just makes up another one. And anyways what have we done that makes "bad luck" or "good luck" seem to rain down upon us anyway? Is it something we " ve done or not done? Beliefs are sometimes known as the frame work for our lives, but some beliefs such as superstitions make us into someone we " re not. You could go around fearing life, fearing that if you do or don't something you could die.

But whats the point 99.99% of the time nothing will happen so why bother? I'll leave you with one last thing do you believe in superstitions or don't you? It's your decision silly misconceptions or facts. Thankyou for listening.