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How Does Abigail Adams Use Rhetorical Strategies In My Dear Son

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In the beginning of the year 1780, Abigail Adams writes to her son, John Quincy Adams who was traveling along with his diplomatic father John Adams, in order to advise him about his travels. As she does this, she implements rhetorical strategies such as metaphors, personification, deductive reasoning, and persuasive appeals to strengthen the advice she is giving to her son. In the duration of the letter, she enforces the concept of growth through discovery to John Quincy as she persuades him to follow her maternal instincts to achieve success. Within the first couple of sentences, Abigail Adams uses the emotional appeal, “My Dear Son,” as a method to soften the way in which John Quincy will receive the advice enclosed in the letter. Coming from his mother, this pathological appeal shapes the maternal advice that she is giving to him. In this case, by doing this, John Quincy is able to sense her compassionate tone and is more open to listen to her. In the same paragraph she uses ethos as a way to give credit to her advice. She says that she “should not have urged [him]... when [he] appeared so averse to the voyage.” From this it is …show more content…

She asks “Would Cicero have shone so distinguished… if he had not been roused… by the tyranny of Catiline, Verres, and Mark Anthony?,” and by asking this question she allows John Quincy to think about the challenges that Cicero faced to become as great as he was, and implies that he can still reach his full potential even if he runs into obstacles along the way. Adams apprises that “it to be one of your incitements towards exerting power and faculty of your mind that you have a parent who has taken so large and active...to be honored,” which shows him that he should be honored to have someone as qualified as his dad to teach him and inspire him and that he should take advantage of the

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