Abigail Adams Letter Rhetorical Analysis

Abigail Adams was born on November 11, 1744 in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her father was William Smith, an ordained minister, and mother, Elizabeth Quincy. Abigail is the second born of three sisters and one brother. She was very short with brown hair and brown eyes. She did not go to public school, however, she was taught to read and write at home and had access to her father and grandfather’s libraries. Abigail loved poetry, reading and memorizing “poems of Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, and James Thomson” (McMichael, 1).

This letter is a fine example of Abigail Adams' strong feminist and strong federalist views. These letters represented the turmoil felt by women during the uncertain times facing the colonies. The views of Abigail Adams became the first in a long line of cries out for women's equality.

A: The tone of both letters was respectful, but also personal. John and Abigail Adams resect and love each other. They are able to discuss big ideas and politics without getting into petty arguments. John is not afraid to tease Abigail (“I cannot but laugh”) which shows that they are close.

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

Letter to John Adams from Abigail Adams and Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband John Adams called Remember the Ladies. Abigail is writing this letter during the Revolutionary War. The timing of the letter is significant because the country is at war for freedom and equality. In her letter Abigail pleas with her husband for women’s equality. Abigail’s purpose for writing to John regarding women’s equality is so that he will think of women as they adopt new laws. Throughout the letter Abigail uses different points of view, word choice, and varying tones to persuade her husband to see the need for laws that are considerate of women.

In her early life, Abigail never went to school, which was common among girls of that time. “Colonial New England took a casual attitude toward education for females, and many remained illiterate,” and “the goal of female education was to produce better wives and mothers” . Where Abigail differed was she was taught by various family members how to read and write, and she also had access to her father’s library and was “encouraged to study secular literature as well,” beyond just studying the bible. This made her have intellectual thoughts beyond the quiet stereotypical colonial woman. Abigail, even though ahead of her peers, was embarrassed of her education and “was not taught the rules of punctuation, a deficiency to which she became sensitive later in life.” You see many examples of these deficits in the multitude of letters she wrote throughout her lifetime.

Abigail Adams was a wise and educated woman that had one wonderful but challenging life. Like any other women in the 1700s, she grew up to become someone’s wife, bear children and live in the private life of her husband’s house. Abigail has a slightly different story than other women though. She grew up with her sisters and brother and had a tutor so they became literate, which was not a thing for women. Educated men didn’t want a wife that was smart, they wanted someone to take care of them and the children and just about nothing else. In the following paragraphs we will talk about who the author is, a back story of who Abigail is, and the thesis of the book as a whole.

Growing up Abigail never attended a real school; she was barely even home-schooled. At home she hardly learned to read and write, and she was taught little music or dance to develop the girly charm. During this time the colonies acted as though education for females was not a necessity so when Abigail was taught it happened at home and she was usually taught by her parents, older sister, or her grandparents. Abigail was never taught the rules of writing and it was not until the marriage of her older sister Mary to Richard Cranch that allowed her to get involved with literature. “To our dear and venerable Brother Cranch do I attribute my early taste for letters; and for the nurture and cultivation of those qualities which have since afforded me much pleasure and satisfaction.” It was because of Mr. Cranch that Abigail learned of her

The main point of this chapter was to showcase the religious, family-oriented background that Abigail was raised in. It explains why she is so focused on her family and John later in her life. It also explains her penname “Diana” and her love for literature and being involved in politics, after being taught to read at a young age.

In the letter to her son, John Quincey Adams (future president of the United States), Abigail Adams implies what she expects of her son to demonstrate the significance of his journey. Her choice of words provides to him the knowledge that he can only become a respectable force. Accordingly, Adams writes “…must give you greater advantages now than you could possibly have reaped whilst ignorant of it” argues that he is now more than he once was and introduces the purpose of her letter. The metaphor

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,

Abigail: “Well, John and I have known eachother since we were children because we are actually third cousins. John and I formally met as young adults in 1762 at a social gathering. At the time, I was only seventeen years old, while John was twenty six. We instantly became close friends.Pursuing a career in law in Boston, he began to frequently visit, realizing that I was his intellectual equal, for I love to discuss politics and literature. Our relationship quickly transformed into a long-distance courtship as John furthered his career in law, until we married in 1764. Through the toughest of times, we have never ceased to support one another, for I consider John my dearest and best friend.”

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