A Rhetorical Analysis Of Abigail Adams Letter To John Quincy Adams

Abigail Adams Letter

In 1780 Abigail Adams writes a letter to her son, John Quincy Adams. When Abigail writes this letter, John is on his second voyage, with his father, to France, America’s ally. When Abigail writes this letter she is trying to prove that going on this voyage will have great positive effects on his life. She is effective in proving her point because she uses Ethos, Logos, Pathos, and other rhetorical strategies convey her message and meaning to him.

Abigail employs strategies of emotionally charged words and phrases that only a mother can say to her son. In her letter she opens the letter with the phrase, “MY DEAR SON”. This phrase is notable because of the effects that it is intended to give to the audience, her son John Quincy Adams, she is setting a mood and tone of a loving and compassionate mother. She is using the position of her authority as his mother to push him her love for him is why she knows this trip is great thing for him. The reader can see that Abigail loves her

Abigail uses an Allusion about Cicero, and she knows her audience and she knows that her son will understand the meaning behind this allusion. The allusion was about Cicero, Catiline, Verres, and Mark Antony and the troubles that they faced. She uses this Allusion as an example of overcoming hardship, she then explains that even though that these great men had hardships they overcame them, and became who they are because of those hardships. She is trying to show how this voyage may look like a bad situation, but really it will help him in the future. She then also goes on to say “..wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience…”(lines 35 and 36). She is trying to use that appeal of this is a fact and it has been proven time and time again. Abigail is trying to make her son have a moment of clarity and see that this voyage is a good thing for