Abigail Adams Letter Kaylee Fenslau

Abigail Adams Letter In the letter to John Adams, Abigail Adam’s son, Abigail tries to persuade John to follow in his father’s footsteps. She uses allusion and the appeals to pathos to show the importance of doing the right thing and being as good of a person and leader that you can be. Abigail uses the rhetorical strategy of allusion to show that if John puts himself around strong powerful people he will end up like them. “Would Cicero have shown so distinguished an orator if he had not been roused, kindled, and influenced by the tyranny of Catiline, Verres, and Mark Anthony? The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties.” She’s explaining to Adams that powerful people and leaders influence how you act and what you do. If he surrounds himself with good people then he too will be good and do the right things. She also states that wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. That means that good things lead to more experiences, not an ending experience. Adams also uses the appeal to pathos when persuading John to follow in his father’s steps. When Abigail starts into the letter she says “You, however, readily submitted to my advice, and, I hope, will never have occasion yourself, nor give me reason, to lament it.” She’s saying that she hopes that John never makes her regret sending this letter of advice to him and that she hopes that he takes the right actions to be successful. She also gives off her expectations when she says “It will be expected of you, my son, that, as you are favored with superior advantages under the instructive eye of a tender parent, your improvement should bear some proportion to your advantages.” Abigail is explaining that she expects him to show his advantages when he is around both of his parents and that she expects the most of him. In conclusion Abigail Adams used the rhetorical devices of allusion and the appeals to pathos to persuade her son to follow