Syntax And Diction In William Johnson's Letter To Samuel Johnson

In 1762 writing a letter to someone was a personal act which tend to be a hassle to mail because of the lack of technology, yet this woman in hope of sending her son to university went through all the trouble to write a letter to Johnson, a man she does not know asking for a risky favor. One day Samuel Johnson receives a letter from a woman he does not know, and to make matters worse she asks him for a big favor. Johnson was confounded as would most individual if they were to receive a letter from an unknown person asking for a favor. While Johnson pondered what his response to this woman’s outrageous request would be, he later found a way to let her down easily. Johnson does so in his letter to her by using syntax and diction to help him

In order to give an explanation to the woman as to why he is denying her request, Johnson was sure to inform the woman of how selfish and thoughtless her request was. In line 16-20 Johnson writes to the woman that in making her request she did not consider what position she would be placing him in neither how difficult the task might be, but rather she thought solely about her and her son’s gain. Johnson orchestrated his sentences and uses strong diction in order to explain to the woman that she did not think it through before sending him the letter and that she did it because she entered a stage of delusion due to her high hopes. He says “When you made your request to me, you should have considered, madam, what you are asking me…” Johnson’s use of syntax and diction in this portion of his letter helps with making him seem like the victim of this situation. His use of the word madam throughout his letter carries a denotation showing his lack of respect for the woman; the word madam in the 17th century was used with respect and Johnson is doing the complete opposite. Johnson is poking fun at the fact that she is an adult who wrote him a letter with no logical explanation other than her wishful

In the opening of his letter Johnson states “Hope itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excess of hope must be expiated by pain… ” ( lines 3-8). His tone is lighthearted at the beginning, but then turns dark at the end; at the beginning, he, encourages her that hope is a good thing and brings happiness but when ending he states that too much hope will lead to pain. By say stating this, he is foreshadowing his denial of the request and the pain she will face once she realizes that he will not be able to help her. He ends up explaining to her that she had too much hope which is why she will end up disappointed if she had not been so hopeful his choice to deny her request would not wound her. After he explains to her that it is her fault that she will feel let down he tries to make it up to her by using a softer tone and giving her motivational words. He says “but though he should at last miss University, he may still be wise, useful, and happy (lines 38-39)” Johnson tries to encourage the mother not to give up and that her son not being able to University is not the worst thing because he can still end up wise and happy. This would help humanize Johnson because in the letter he seemed compassionless towards the mother and her emotions. Although