Abigail Adams Rhetorical Analysis

Abigail Adams-Rhetorical Analysis

In 1780, Abigail Adams wrote to her son, soon-to-be president, John Quincy Adams, while he was traveling overseas with his father who was at the time, a U.S diplomat, before elected president. Unaware that her son would become President, she writes to convince her son to travel and be diligent while doing so. Adams employs a historical allusions, pathos, and a concerned, maternal tone to further enhance her position as well as persuade her son that voyaging will be beneficial to the growth of John as a human being.

Adams pleads for her son to be diligent by appealing to his affection for her and flattering him in the first half of the letter. She opens up the letter with “my dear son” to establish that she does not intend to scold him but to guide his way of thinking. She then institutes that her primary concern is his safety, appealing to his emotions so that he will be receptive to her advice. Adams continues by complimenting his language skills in hopes that he will continue to improve her compliment by asserting his need to improve. Her reference to a discussion with an author in line 16 further legitimizes her argument, as a form of employing the “older and wiser” claim. Adams’ reference to the author’s metaphor in line 17 intends to assure her son of the importance of the trip on which she encouraged him to embark. She again flatters him in line 26 by emphasizing his vast natural talent, but again qualifies the assertion by highlighting the necessity of employing God given gifts by displaying a great deal of effort. She instills a sense of guilt in him for not capitalizing on his blessings in hopes that he will grow to become more diligent and mature.

Through various uses of pathos, one of Abigail Adams’ most effective strategies, she is able to portray her maternal tone in order to enhance the diction implied that she persuaded him to go on the voyage. She portrays the “mother is always right” condescending connotation throughout the letter, referring to him as her child, one that she adores to be specific. She portrays her personal emotions within her letter; however, a strong sense of this is found when she states that he is “favored with superior advantages under the instructive eye of a tender parent,” demonstrating the necessity of a parent’s guidance in order for him to be successful, but little did she know he would go on to become the most powerful man in the United States, the president (lines 22-25). It cannot be ignored that his mother truly cares about him,