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Abigail Adams Letter To My Mother Analysis

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Abigail Adams is writing to her venturing son, who is of with his father John. Written in 1980, this letter signifies the beliefs that John Quincey Adams’ mother has for him. Off traveling the world to build his father’s trustworthiness, the experiences he will have, build John Adams into the man he would become. Abigail Adams presents a variety of justifiable metaphors, scholarly wisdom, and a maternal tone, to advise her son to follow his dreams and accomplish his goals. First, Adams integrates justifiable metaphors to differentiate between her son and the chances he has to be great like the generations of family before him. On line 20, she compares, “a judicious traveler to a river” to express John’s knowledge will only grow with more fruitful experiences. Secondly, she asserts that “wisdom and penetration are the fruits of experience” to illustrate that wisdom and knowledge can only be obtained by going out into the world and making a difference. She continues by saying, “not the lessons of retirement and leisure” to exemplify the point that laziness will not achieve you anything, and if John doesn’t live with a purpose, what is the point in living with the opportunities he has been brought to? …show more content…

In one example she tells him, “You are favored with superior advantages.” She says this to imply that John was raised in wealth and opportunities, and he should think twice before he lets that go to waste. She would continue on and then so end with, “Do honor to your country, and render your parents supremely happy.” I can imagine a smile appearing on John’s face as he reads this heartfelt message from his mother. She shows her support for her son and lets him know that she believes even if nobody else does. She knows that someday he will have a name for

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