John Henry Adams Letter Rhetorical Analysis

Eight years before the ratification of the Constitution, John Quincy Adams took an overseas trip, following the decision of his mother, with his father to Paris. Although Abigail made the choice for John Quincy to accompany his father, she began to get worried. Paris was, after all, a city of desire and temptation. She decided to write a letter, and a very powerful one at that, to her son to make sure he kept in mind the high expectations his mother held him to. She, in many ways, expressed her rule over young Quincy, and reminded him that this trip was a privilege, not a right. Her use of powerful diction to express her authority over her son, which her brilliant use of figurative language helps illustrate, and the strong relationship ties the family obviously has are expressed in this letter. Abigail's diction throughout the letter was very effective in establishing her authority and commanding the attention of all who read it. In the first paragraph she refers to herself as the one who “urged [him]” to take the journey with his father. As the letter moves forward Abigail continues to remind John Quincy of her superiority, commenting that he isn’t capable of …show more content…
In the second paragraph she refers to the idea of a traveler as a stream twice. She says a person who travels “increases [their] stream the further [they] flow”, comparing a person’s knowledge to a flowing river. She also compares a traveler to a river that “run[s] through rich veins of minerals”. She includes these metaphors to convince John Quincy that his time is not being wasted, and he should use it wisely. She also makes references to Cicero, an orator, whose abilities were unlocked with “tyranny”. She does this to convince John Quincy that any difficulties will only help him grow as a person. She wants John Quincy to be encouraged in his studies and use his time well in a foreign