Analysis

TEXT: __Adams letter___________________________ AUTHOR : __Abigail Adams_____________________

1. Identify the components of the rhetorical situation in this text.

Description: Identify and describe the component of the rhetorical situation.
S Speaker: What perspectives on the Abigail Adams
subject does the speaker have? What is
reveals about their beliefs, values,  Stern, yet affectional mother. (Perspective)
needs, and backgrounds? How does the  Prideful patriot. (Background)
text reflect their biases and possibly
affect their credibility?
P Purpose: What is the writer’s purpose  To encourage her son to make the most of his advantages by seeking
for developing this text? What desired
outcome is explicitly or implicitly wisdom in adversity
stated? What action does the writer
want from the audience?
A Audience: How would you describe the John Quincy Adams
intended audience of this text? How
does the writer anticipate and address  Begrudgingly accompanying is father to France
the audience’s values, beliefs, needs,  Future president, and therefore duty-bound
and background, particularly as they
relate to the subject of the argument?
C Context: What information surrounds  Time: 1780 (After the American Revolution)
this text? What was going on
historically, socially, culturally, etc. that  Location: New York (Adams), enroute to France (JQA).
is relevant to this text? What can you
infer about past events that influence
this text?
E Exigence: What sparked the need for  John Quincy Adams’ aversion to going to France.
this text? What need is fulfilled in the
writing of this text? What created the  Her pride in her family and duty to country.
demand for such a text? What provoked
the writer to develop this text?
S Subject: What topic or BIG idea is being  Maturity
addressed, discussed, or described in
this text?  Duty
2. Identify a claim made by Adams and explain the reasoning underlying this claim.

Adams claims good character or heroism comes from facing adversity. She argues that history has
proven that experiences and challenges bring the best out of people and provides multiple examples
of how this has proven to be true.

3. List at least two pieces of supporting evidence from the passage and briefly explain how they support the claim you have
identified in #2.
Evidence Explanation
“Would Cicero have shown so distinguished an orator The first example that Adams provides is Cicero –
if he had not been roused, kindled, and inflamed by who faced the challenges presented by his opponents
the tyranny of Cataline, Verres, and Mark Anthony?” (Cataline, Verres, and Anthony). This example
supports her claim that heroism comes from
experience because Cicero’s experience with his
adversaries made him a famous orator.
“Yet it is your lot, my son, to be an eyewitness of In this example, Adams is referring to the American
these calamities in your own native land, and at the revolutionaries that stood up against their oppressor.
same time, to owe your existence among a people Similar to her other example, this shows an instance
who have made a glorious defense of their invaded in which a group faced adversity (British oppression)
liberties.” and came out better for it – as a free nation. This
example shows how people her son admires became
heroes by embracing a challenge.

4. Compose a well-developed paragraph in which you assert Adam’s purpose (Claim) and defend it with evidence and
commentary.
Abigail Adams wrote this letter to encourage her son to make the most of his advantages by
seeking wisdom in adversity. In other words, she wanted him to change his attitude about his trip to
France with his father. This purpose becomes evident when she carefully lays out the advantages of
facing new challenges. As she puts it, it is “when a mind is raised and animated by scenes that
engage the mind” that one’s best characteristics “wake into life and form the character of the hero
and statesman.” Adams feels that this trip to France will challenge her son, or engage his mind in a
way that will bring out his potential. By writing the letter, she is encouraging him to recognize this
opportunity and essentially, make the most of it.