Ship Fever Book Report

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I have chosen a story called “Ship Fever” for my written essay. Ship fever was written by an American writer and author, Andrea Barrett. This book discusses an event known as the great famine which had taken place in the middle 1800's, in Ireland. The great famine affected potato harvests across all of Ireland and as a result, more than one and a half million Irish people suffered from hunger, starvation and subsequent loss of life. The potato was a major staple in the diet of many of the underprivileged population of Ireland. Many of the Irish people gathered up their belongings and their families and boarded ships to immigrate to North America and start a new life. So nearly 1,300,000 Irish people set sail for several north eastern US cities, such as New York City, Philadelphia and Boston. These Irish immigrants had left behind a famine never seen by their country before. They had left with hope of a bright future only to find themselves coming down with a parasitic disease known as Typhus. It …show more content…

Even though Nora fell ill and did not have the company of any family with her, she still stayed to see out the duration of this disaster and help as many unfortunate souls as she could. Regardless of her recovery of typhus and being estranged from her two brothers she stayed and continued her work helping the sick. Nora was always a great friend to Dr. Grant. When he had returned from Quebec he was happy to see that Nora was still on the island. Dr. Grant made it a point to always get to Nora no matter how busy he was. I believe that Nora, by way of her actions, has something to teach everyone. She taught me how selflessness and caring for others can give someone a true sense of purpose. She also taught me by having her life spared, exactly how far a person can go in the pursuit of helping others. Nora had such a deep sense of gratefulness for her own life being spared that she felt completely obligated to stay and help

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