Do my friends think I have forgotten my wife and children?

John Adams to Abigail Adams

Do my friends think I have forgotten my wife and children?

July 20, 1776

This letter is about John telling his wife Abigail that his friends believe he has forgotten about his wife and children, which is not true. He asks all sorts of questions to see whether it is true. He is so far away from his family that he misses them a lot and they miss him as well. He needs them to help him and to be with him. The loss of Canada has happened which is that most of the lands in the United States are now Canada.

John just found out that his wife is ill and that his kids have small pox. He says that it was a “kind intention” (Adams 688) to keep it a secret but the secret has been revealed and he knows. He asks her to please let him know when she is ok.

Rhetorical Devises:

1. “Do my Friends think that I have been a politician so long to have lost all feeling? Do they suppose I have forgotten my Wife and Children? Or are they so panic struck with the loss of Canada, as so to be afraid to correspond with me? Or have they forgotten that you have a husband and your children a father?” (Adams 688)

This quote is an example of a rhetorical question. John Adams asks Abigail this questions he has in his mind.  Rhetorical questions are important in documents because the speaker asks questions he does not expect the reader to respond and orally. Also the speaker can make the reader understand what the he is going through. The speaker puts the reader in their shoes.

2. “What have I done, or omitted to do, that I should be thus forgotten and neglected in the most tender and affection scaene of my Life!” (Adams 688)

This quote is a representation of appeal to pathos or pity. John Adams is feeling sorry for what he is going through. People believe he has forgotten his family which is not true. He needs his family for support. Appeal to pathos or pity is important because it makes the reader feel sorry for the speaker. It makes the reader have the same emotions as the speaker does. The reader can process these questions in a way that they can not have a answer.

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Work Cited:

Letters of John and Abigail Adams packet