Remember the Ladies essay To begin with, during 1700’s, women didn’t have many rights; they couldn’t vote, they couldn't own property, they couldn’t work or do any of the things that white males could do at that time. They weren’t fully treated as human beings. Abigail Adams strongly desired to change that, so on March 31st, 1776, she wrote a letter to her husband, John Adams urging him to be more favourable to women and to give everyone an equal opportunity. In Remember the Ladies, Abigail Adams uses rhetorical strategies such as juxtaposition and tone to convince John Adams to remember about women when establishing new laws. Firstly, Abigail Adams uses juxtaposition to convince John Adams to remember about women when establishing new laws, she writes, “ willingly give up the harsh title of master for …show more content…
Abigail Adams uses juxtaposition to compare two opposite things; master and friend, to each other in one sentence. By using juxtaposition, she wishes to inform her husband of something he is, “harsh master”, and something that he could be, “tender friend”. Abigail Adams attempts to shame John Adams and make him feel emotional and thoughtful. She is trying to explain to her husband that if he included equality for women in the declaration of independence, he would stand out from all the other men who are viewed by women as “tyrants”, and that he would no longer be seen as a harsh master, but rather as a tender friend to women. Furthermore, Abigail Adams also uses tone to convince John Adams to remember about women when establishing new laws, she writes, “ we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws…”. Abigail Adams uses a threatening tone by using words such as, “determined” or “rebellion”, in an attempt to frighten her husband. She believes that the threatening tone of her letter will alarm John Adams and make him consider her point more seriously.