What Is Abigail Adams's Letter To Her Son

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).

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

* After his commission to France, John was elected minister plenipotentiary which extended his stay in Europe.

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,

Adams’s message to her son, she employs allusion by comparing his trip and how to develop character to lessons of the past. Abigail Adams had met an author that gave her the analogy of a “judicious traveler to a river.” For a river has many paths and streams to take, it can flow through “rich minerals” or bountiful streams, but at the same time it may choose the horrid path of mucky waters. Mrs. Adams purposely wrote of this allusion to warn and plead for her son to not choose the wrong path. She knew unavoidably, that travelling to France would change her son.

In this letter, from Abigail Adams to her son John Quincy Adams, Abigail uses Ethos, Pathos, metaphor, imagery, and allusion to convince John that his decision to take his second voyage to France, in accordance with her guidance, was the correct one.

In the extended fourth paragraph, Abigail Adams evokes a sense of care and kind heart ness toward her son in order to remind John Adams about his mission and encourage a sense of nationalism “own your existence among a people who have made a glorious defense” the use of nationalistic emotions drives the last paragraph “... do honor to your country and render your parents supremely happy…” Adams feels a nationalistic duty towards her country and she wants her son to bring honor to the country. Abigail Adams uses an encouragement tone to tell her son that everything happens for a reason so he should try his

While it is certainly natural for a mother to have a gentle manner towards her child, it is rather impossible for her compassion throughout the letter to go unnoticed. The first issue A. Adams clarifies was that “if” she had thought his apprehensions were supported with proper judgment, she would not have urged him to join. She seeks to reassure her son that he possesses all of the “superior advantages” necessary to succeed and that “nature has not been deficient.” By offering a sense of comfort, A. Adams calms her son so that he will put aside his worries and listen to her. Granted, she knows her son is still young and that it will take years before he finds his “understanding opening and daily improving.”

The letter is opened by the greeting, “My Dear Son”. Using the word “my” signifies possession and creates an emotional attachment to her son. An emotional appeal is used throughout the first paragraph. Also, it is instantly seen that she uses a proper, but loving, tone. The way she writes shows that they are in a high social class. In the second paragraph she starts with a knowledgeable appeal when she writes, “Your knowledge of the language must give you greater advantages now than you could possibly have reaped whilst

Abigail wrote to Jefferson because his younger daughter had died of complications during childbirth. Jefferson was angry because when he got the letter he really wasn’t sure of what the meaning to the letter was. Although she was being somewhat remorseful in this time of despair for Jefferson she was touching basis with their once political relationship and that made him angry. It was not something he wished to talk about or even want to remember. Ellis believes that the summer of 1813 was a turning point for Adams and Jefferson because they start working together. They both had strong roles that they knew how to fill and coming together for them was a very big and needed step.

She was being Averse to her son that; she shouldn’t make him go on a voyage with his father. Abigail wants to make sure that her son, will be like his father and be Diligence. She has made a Deliberation for her son, to become like his father and do not stay at home to not don’t know what to do. She feels like her son is not getting enough Lament. She trying to encourage her son to be inviolable with his father and use Leisure to pay attention. She wants her son to reach her full potential by following his father shadow.

In January of 1780, Abigail Adam’s, John Adam’s wife, writes a near and dear letter to her son about traveling overseas with his father. Adam’s tells her son about the challenges he will face and what he needs to do to overcome and defeat them.

When writing a letter to her son, John Quincey Adams, Abigail Adams encourages him that this trip to France alongside his brother and father will bring him great benefit. Abigail Adams begins her letter to her son by telling John Quincey Adams that she had known that he was hesitant to go on the trip to France. Mrs. Adams knows her son well enough that she tells him she knows what is best for him to be able to achieve exactly what she wants him to in his lifetime. She informs him that it would be in his best interest to go to France with his brother and father, so that he can gain more life experience. Appearing as a nurturing mother who he cares for her son a tremendous amount, she only wants the best for him; she wishes for him to achieve the best he can within his lifetime.

In general, Adams constructs comparisons to people to advise her son on his voyage. Specifically, Adams makes connections between Cicero and her son. She compares Cicero’s struggles to the future struggles of her son through the journey. Adams wants her son to know his struggles will only make him wiser and stronger like they did for Cicero. Adams also compares her son to his father. She apprises her husband’s accomplishments, and how this journey can shape her son to be like his father. Adam’s