A Rhetorical Analysis Of Abigail Adams 'Letter To Her Son'

On January 12, 1780, Abigail Adams writes a letter to her youngest son John Quincy Adams. Adams writes the letter for the soul purpose of informing her son on how important it is for him to travel to France. In her letter, Abigail Adams encourages her son to continue his journey of triumph. In Adams letter, she uses allusion, ethos, and pathos, to express her ideas of advise to John. Adams continuously appeals to her son’s emotions by emphasizing that she wants him to be successful in life and aiding him in realizing that she cares enough to push him to be the best that he can be.

The reaction of John Adams was less than satisfactory. He responded by telling Abigail that he had laughed at her request. He called her letter saucy and told her he had more to deal with than the request of women.

Abigail Adams was a woman of high character and a loving soul. She was selfless in her thinking and remarkable in the way she handled people. Her management skills were above average for the normal female in the 1700s. She held many worldly interests that tied her to the political fashion of society. She was well cultured and was able to apply this to her role of a politician’s wife with great attributes towards society. She became the “buffer” with regard to her husband's temper and lack of diplomacy. She participated in many political activities. Her independent thinking, character, faithfulness, and hard work gave her the ability to succeed in society in the 17th century. Even though Abigail Adams was not formerly

In Abigail Adams letter to her son: letter to John Quincy Adams, she uses many rhetorical devices to convey her feeling towards him as he leaves with his dad. She uses pathos as a way to project her feelings as a concerning strict mother toward Quincy telling him to use caution during the trip, hoping great things for him. She uses logos to explain to him that he must be grateful and use this advantage that has been given from his father that others don't get, to learn and grow from. Her tone in this letter to her son is advising and loving mother hoping he'll learn from this great experience and doesn't miss out on this opportunity.

Abigail Adams uses tone as a rhetorical device in her letter. The first being a loving and trusting tone towards her son that appeals to his emotions. Recognizing that her son has “readily submitted to her advice,” Adams praises her son for his consideration of her opinion. When she states that difficult times are times “in which a genius would wish to live,” she illustrates her trust toward her son - she believes that he is a genius and thus should uphold the thinking of a genius. However, Abigail Adams’s methods of persuasion are not entirely congenial. Mothers are aware that sometimes they have to be more austere with their children in order for them to comprehend the importance of their advice. Therefore, the mother utilizes a stern tone in her letter. In the beginning, A. Adams tells her son, John Quincy Adams, that he does not have “proper deliberation” or the right judgement to make the decision on his own. Therefore, she had to step in and urge him to accompany his father and brother on the voyage. Additionally, she tells him that she has voiced her opinion, so she hopes that he will “never have an occasion” to “lament” it. By saying this, she is showing J.Q. Adams that it is in his best interest to follow her advice. As the saying goes, mother knows best. Abigail Adams is very passionate about making this aware to her son; however, sometimes her

Abigail tries to convey the general impact of the Revolution in Boston. She chose the details she did to try show John Adams what has changed in Boston as a result of the Revolution. She shares that the city is in a better condition that what she was expecting

In 1870, Abigail Adams writes to her son John Quincy Adams, the future president of the United States, in an attempt to convince him of travel and diligence. In her letter Abigail Adams to John Quincy Adams, Abigail Adams uses a series of rhetorical devices and a strong parental tone to goad her son to take advantage of every opportunity that he gets. Adams achieves her purpose by pointing out the logic of her argument, targeting his emotions, and using a maternal tone to elicit the response that she desires. Abigail Adams appeals to logos in pointing out the logic of what she is trying to get her son to do. By having a logical argument, she is bound to convince her audience that what she is saying is the right way to go.

Throughout Adams’ letter, she persuades her son by appealing to pathos in order to demonstrate how highly she thinks of her son. Clarifying, “Nothing is wanting with you but attention, diligence, and steady application,” Adams reassures that she is not trying to change her son, or turn him into a hero, but for him to gain experience and become a well-rounded person. Adams also acknowledges her sons disinterest in the voyage, “If I had thought your reluctance arose from proper deliberation or that you were

Abigail illustrates how her son will grow as he moves farther away by using metaphors. She includes author she talked to, who “compares a judicious traveler to a river, that increases its stream the farther it glows from its source.” Adams advise her son to grow as he travels through the sea. The same author also stated that “a certain spring, which, running through rich veins of mineral, improve their qualities as they pass along.” Adams implies that her son will continue to mature and gain knowledge as he faces the challenges set before him.

With the marriage to John Adams, Abigail gained more than just a family and a husband she gained a greater independence for herself and for the women in the colonies. John Adams was a political man and devoted his life to politics. Abigail spent majority of her married years alone and raising a family by herself, with the help of family and servants. It was during these years that Abigail started writing a tremendous amount of letters. She wrote to family and friends but most importantly to her husband John. In the letters to her husband she was able to express her feelings about situations that were happening in the family and colonies. She wrote encouraging words that helped him through troubled times in politics. With the absence of her husband during her second pregnancy,

Mrs. Abigail Adams incorporates pathos, logos and allusion in advising her son about his trip to France. While the revolutionary war is coming to a close in 1780, young John Adams accompanies his father and brother in his “second voyage to France.” John Quincy Adams, future president of the United States, doesn’t realize the importance of this voyage and observing his father being a diplomat in France. This is why Mrs. Adams finds the importance of writing a letter to give counsel to her son and his future. Emotion, the center point that drives Mrs. Adams’ focus in this letter.

In this letter written by Abigail Adams, she goes on to use a very delicate and understanding tone in order to comfort and advise her son John Quincy Adams in his second voyage to France. With this in mind, the audience can be determined to be John Quincy Adams. The whole purpose of this letter is to help Quincy cope with his emotions and perspective of his parents' decision on accompanying his father on this trip. The reason for this is because Quincy finds it to be very useless since he sees the journey to be a grounding rather than an opportunity to learn something new. This feeling of punishment felt by Quincy is the occasion why Abigail chose to write to Quincy. Long story short, the letter goes on to talk in detail about how this voyage could be more beneficial to Quincy than harmful to his future.

The year 1780 was when the French troops set foot in American soil at Newport, Rhode Island to fight for America’s Independence from Great Britain. In this letter, Abigail Adams sole purpose was to counsel young John adams on his voyage to France, Adams letter includes historical allusions, ethical appeals such as Pathos(tone) and ethos and lastly Analogy. Her style of writing suggests to the reader that the letter is written in a formal tone, but hidden in those words is a woman who cares deeply for her son and encourages him to continue his journey of opportunity with due diligence. The strongest and most influential rhetorical strategy used that binds the letter together is her use of pathos, at the beginning of the letter, she starts the heading with a delicate phrase “my dear son” (Adams).

Abigail Adams is a mother who clearly wants nothing but the best for her son and is willing to push him in order for him to become a good man. She forced him to go on a trip, which he otherwise would not have embarked on. Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her son to explain why she thought that the trip was the best thing for him. She uses an encouraging tone throughout the letter to advise her son on his future.

After developing her status as a speaker, Adams appeal to logos in order to convince her to take full advantage of his opportunity in Paris. Highlighting John’s chance of facing adversity and dealing with temptation, Adams suggest that John might develop a “great character” if he embraced the difficulties he would face in Paris. For further support adams allude to historical figures who have prospered from “contending with difficulties”. Identifying potential benefits of listening to her advice convinces John Quincy that following his guidance is both good for him now as well as beneficial in the