Linda Caporael's 'Witchcraft Or Psychedelic Trip?'

No one really knows how the Salem Witch Trials really started. There are many conspiracy theories out there but none can be proved as fact. But Linda Caporael seems to think the trials began because of ergot poisoning and explains her reasoning in “Witchcraft or Psychedelic Trip?”. Caporael describes ergot and why she believes it to be the main cause of the hysteria. She goes on to state that ergot is a fungus that grows best in wet conditions and on the main crops that were in Salem during the time period (Caporael). Along with all the effects of this poisoning: including the main one being hallucinations, Caporael is able to comprise a pretty convincing argument to why the girls involved in accusing witches acted so strangely and why the

In the beginning of the article, she inserts a bias comment stating, “...(if I were sick I probably wouldn’t trust a 17th century physician),” which suggests that because of the advancements today, the past medical advice is not as trustworthy. Also, Caporael only uses her knowledge on the subject and does not input others’ opinions. By doing this, it makes her seem less willing to admit she may wrong, and thus making her less credible. Nevertheless, she admits that there are other opinions out there that attempt to explain the cause of the Salem Witch Trials, crediting others’ opinions and identifies that her opinion is not the only one out there. Furthermore, Caporael uses facts of the time period to add information relevant to Salem and to the duration of the trials to help persuade the reader like stating that the fungus grows on rye, which, was important crop for Salem in 1692 (Caporael). Since she wants to inform and persuade the audience, adding information like this help add justification to the article. Because of Caporael’s setup of the article, she is able to explain, inform, and persuade the reader to agree with her