John Henry Adams Letter Rhetorical Analysis

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In 1780, John Quincy Adams --soon to be the president of the US--- travelled abroad with his father, John Adams. During his journey, his mother Abigail Adams, sends her son a letter on the 12th of January to advise her son --Adams-- that in his ventures, he should utilize his innate wisdom to honor his country and make them proud by exerting his unyielding attitude. Her request is evident through her frequent use of parallelism and her references to her own experience and knowledge. Once encountering the letter for the first time, the signature already evokes credibility if one knows who Abigail Adams was. She was the first lady and knowing this allows for the assumption that she is knowledgeable when the matter concerns politics, foreign affairs, and domesticity. However, having her son understand that she is wise and experienced will not make him trust her entirely; her use of an affectionate motherly tone will persuade him to listen to her. The nurturing tone appears where she opens up her letter with “MY DEAR SON.” In order to persuade him to use his natural talents to shape the future of …show more content…

The extremely long sentences, “Yet it is your lot, my son...transmit this inheritance to ages yet unborn” serves to emphasize her everlasting hope in her son to work diligently since it is the “fruit of experience and vital for the prosperity of their country (43-49). Adams would not be wasting her efforts to write to him this long of a message if she was not sure he was capable of emerging as a powerful leader. In addition, similar sentence structure is apparent when she groups “war, tyranny, and desolation”: a mixture that she is relieved of not experiencing like his relatives had to face in order to achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Overtly implied, she believes Adams is adept enough to bring forth justice, virtue, and order to the

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