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Summary Of Abigail Adams Letter To Her Son

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On January 12, 1780, Abigail Adams composed a letter to send to her son; John Quincy Adams. Now, John Quincy Adams was on a trip with his father John Adams. John Adams was a U.S. Diplomat; he will later become the Second President of the United States. Abigail Adams attempts to give her son helpful advice for the current situation as well as for the future. Abigail Adams uses allusions to history, logical stories for comparison, and optimism towards the future to help tell her son. To start off, Abigail makes use of history to help in her advisement of her son. In paragraph four of her letter, Abigail alludes to Julius Caesar. “Would Cicero have shone so distinguished an orator if he had not been roused, kindled, and inflamed by the tyranny of Catiline, Verres, and Mark Antony” (Adams 4). In Julius Caesar, Cicero was a senator known for his skills in speech. In this quote from Abigail, attempts to show that even great people in history have to struggle to become great. Cicero was forced to overcome the trials and tribulations caused by people in his life. “The …show more content…

Abigail explains her expectations for her son by telling a story about a man and a river. “Some author, that I have met with, compares a judicious traveler to a river, that increases its stream the further it flows from its source; or to certain springs, which, running through rich veins of minerals, improve their quality as they pass along” (Adams 3). The logic in this story is that as a river flows, it gains nutrients from minerals that are eroded from the land over time. The river then carries the minerals to other waters. This in turn helps to enrich the other waters with nutrients. Abigail is attempting to convey that she wants John Quincy Adams to gain much good knowledge and experience so that he will become better over time. “… and as you increase in years, you will find your understanding opening and daily improving” (Adams

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The meaning behind a mother’s advice to her children should be taken to heart. Despite John Quincy Adams’ young age, Abigail Adams presents him didactic advice to assist him in his future endeavors. Abigail Adams employs various rhetorical devices to support and expound on her advice; she tells John Quincy Adams to not waste the advantages he was doled in life and mentions how wisdom lies in experience thought the implementation of personification, extended metaphor, maternalistic diction, and allusion. Abigail Adams advice focused on John Quincy Adams applying himself and emphasized how he must take advantage of the privileges he has received.

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615 Words | 3 Pages

Abigail Adams writes to her son, John Quincy Adams, informing him of lessons to learn from and experiences to cherish. She implements metaphorical language, contrasting connotative word choices and structurally repetitive phrases into her letter to evoke an encouraging attitude toward John Quincy Adams during his trip with his father in order to express her hopes for a safe voyage. Mrs. Adams mentions an author telling her about how John was the “judicious traveller” running through a stream going “through rich veins of mineral” (Adams 3). She highlights his strengths by comparing him to nature, portraying him as the stream that gathers minerals, in which the minerals represent John improving his character through tribulations, opportunities, mistakes, and learning experiences.

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364 Words | 2 Pages

Many people and or things were effected during the American Revolution. This is the time Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her son who is going on a trip with his father. In this letter she gives her son some advice like making mistakes in life to making your own path. Adams provides examples to help illustrate these ideas better.

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798 Words | 4 Pages

Education was a big factor that Abigail urged women to have more of a passion for. An educated woman is a strong woman. She promotes that women are just as capable as men, and intellectual thinkers who want their voices to be heard. Since women had little rights for themselves, some women were against slavery, especially Abigail Adam’s, they saw how little to no rights slaves were given and saw a comparison of the situations and wanted to be that voice for them and those that joined her. John Adams had complete trust in her to be able to handle all that was going on in the household while he was gone.

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812 Words | 4 Pages

All of these words possess a positive connotation to one’s pride, which can easily be felt after so much focus on the “your”s to John. Through the use of this repetition, Abigail not only opens up her son to new advice, but subtly verifies her old advice of encouraging him to go to France,

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523 Words | 3 Pages

In a letter to her son, Abigail Adams shares her advice for him while traveling abroad. The letter encourages John Quincy Adams to make the most of this experience as evidenced by her appealing to her son as his mother and her reference to heroes of past and present. In this letter Adams appeals to “my son” as “his affectionate mother” so that he might value her advice and encouragement. Adams wants her son to value her advice so that her message of making the most of your trip will not fall upon deaf ears.

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1580 Words | 7 Pages

(Miller 12). This quote shows how Abigail has changed and what she’d do if she was confronted with such a situation. She made the decision quickly and opted to only save herself. Over the course of the book it gets represented pretty well that she is capable of doing everything to hold up her reputation: she wants to be a saint. Every decision she makes is like a little test that shows what kind of person and friend she is.

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1772 Words | 8 Pages

It may be that Abigail believed that it was too late to correct her mistakes, but in the course of reality, it is never too late to correct past faults. Abigail fails to come to this realization, and continues to play victim in order to manipulate the court. Everyone, no matter their class or where they are from, goes thru tough times, but the difficult times of the past cannot be used as an excuse to cause

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1292 Words | 6 Pages

Abigail Adams was extremely influential to the nation’s beginnings due to her drive to push certain decisions and debates through the status of her husband. She found the issues of women’s rights and slavery while also finding local politics to be important. As the wife of a president, Abigail Adams was able to use her status in a way to push and bring to life her political agenda. Abigail Adams was able to provide her husband with information and insights of the political situation in Boston during his decade long trip through numerous letters that had been exchanged for so long. Her letters regarding the political situation “included commentary on the American struggle for independence and the political structure of the new republic.”

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596 Words | 3 Pages

She implies in the paragraph before that there is still always room for improving. Implying that the use of his advantages will result in more “understanding and daily improving.” In addition, she makes him feel guilty for not wanting to expand and

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515 Words | 3 Pages

Adams uses a metaphor from another author that compares a "judicious traveler to a river." Here, Adams both establishes credibility for herself and advises her son to gain knowledge from his experiences much like a river gains as it flows. Credibility is established by demonstrating that others have the same values as she. The metaphor itself tells her son to be diligent along the way and pick up information. Adam says that "as you increase in years, you will find your understanding and daily improving."

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495 Words | 2 Pages

Abigail Adams, the mother of John Quincy Adams, is entering a new chapter in her life in which her youngest son is becoming a man. John, his elder brother, and his father are traveling on a long, treacherous voyage to France. Abigail Adams writes John an encouraging letter that will help display her feelings towards him as a mother. Adams uses a number of different rhetorical devices such as a myriad of different historical and metaphorical examples, as well as a motherly diction in order to leave a desired confidence in her son.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

Abigail wrote this letter to her John in January of 1780, so the language used was very different from today's society, and it used many heightened points of diction and more formal language.

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678 Words | 3 Pages

Abigail uses an Allusion about Cicero, and she knows her audience and she knows that her son will understand the meaning behind this allusion. The allusion was about Cicero, Catiline, Verres, and Mark Antony and the troubles that they faced. She uses this Allusion as an example of overcoming hardship, she then explains that even though that these great men had hardships they overcame them, and became who they are because of those hardships. She is trying to show how this voyage may look like a bad situation, but really it will help him in the future. She then also goes on to say “..wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience…”(lines 35 and 36).

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452 Words | 2 Pages

She uses allusion to invoke a sense of purpose in her son completing his journey and gaining the knowledge he needs in order to grow. When Abigail Adams suggest that her son was fortunate enough to witness "who have made glorious defense of their invades liberties. " She uses Americas history into becoming an independent country to show hardship that will come but the outcome from it is even better. Next example she used is, "Would Cicero have shone so distinguished an orator if had not been roused, kindled, and inflamed by the tyranny of Catiline, Verres, and Mark Antony." Adams proposes that adversity will come in life, but it will make him a great leader.

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