Letter 1 Classical Parallels

This letter was written from Abigail Adams to John Addams. It is their first letter. Abigail is feeling very lonely and depressed without her husband. She is telling him how anxious she is about her country and for their family. She makes this question, which is very true; “Did ever any Kingdom or state regain their liberty, when once it was invaded without bloodshed”(Addams 676)? She is trying to tell her husband that she is concerned because every time a country fought for their freedom there was an immense war and an awful bloodshed. Abigail Addams is comparing their situation with Sparta, and how when they were attacked they were only concerned of their own land and what led them to defeat. She doesn’t want that to happen to her country. She is then wishing her husband luck and is telling him that she will always support him.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/American_Revolutionary
_War_collage.jpg

Rhetorical Devices

1. “The great anxiety I feel for my country, for you and for our family renders the day tedious, and the night unpleasant”(Adams 676).

 - This quote is important to the letter because it is introducing the reader emotions. This quote is transmitting the emotions Abigail Addams is feeling into the reader so the reader knows what she felt. With her strong emotions she is showing us how people felt in those times over the war and their family.


2. “I have taken a very great fondness for reading Rollin’s ancient History since you left me” (Abigail 676).

-This quote is a red herring or a distraction from the main idea for the reader. Abigail Addams main point is her preoccupation for the war and for her family. So John and the reader would not get too overwhelmed she introduced this part about her, reading Rollins ancient History.  

Works Cited

-Adams, John and Mary. Letters. English class packet