Classical Parallels

This letter from Abigail Adams to her husband John Adams was written on August 19, 1774 while John was attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and Abigail was home in Braintree, Massachusetts.

This letter talks about the concern Abigail has for her country and the loneliness she holds every day because she misses her husband. It’s been a month since John departed, and Abigail and her children miss their “Pappa”. A friend of the family, Mrs. Warren, wishes him luck in his trip with no obstructions in the way and good decision making, and Abigail wishes him wisdom for every difficult day presented to him.

Two major rhetorical devices I found in the letter were appeal to emotion and red herring.

“The great anxiety I feel for my Country, for you and for our family renders the day tedious and the night unpleasant” (Adams 676). The previous quote is appealing to emotion because Abigail throughout the paragraph describes her feelings such as anxiety about what is going on, from her husband leaving to the actions taken in the country.

“I have taken a very great fondness for reading Rollin´s ancient History since you left me” (Adams 676). In this quote, Abigail deviates from the previous topic about her loneliness and anxiety by mentioning the book she reading to keep her mind of the feelings she needs to handle every day. She later comes back to her feelings again.

WORK CITED:

http://smalley.cc/images/loneliness.jpg

Adams, Abigail. Classical Parallels. Braintree: Agust 19, 1774.

blog #4: REFUTING PATRICK HENRY

 Gregory Wilson

As a colonist of Virginia, I firmly believe on the right of freedom for all colonists. Though, I firmly believe we shall get our freedom in the proper way which is not fighting. Fellow citizens of Virginia, I disagree with Patrick Henry on obtaining our freedom through fighting when we can get it in a more peaceful way without losing what we have. I suggest we shall get our freedom by compromising with the British because they are stronger than us. They have stronger troops and a full control of the slavery going on in our colony. It will be a nightmare to fight the troop who we are under chain. Therefore, my suggestion of a peaceful compromise with the British will secure a more comfortable life with the British. First of all, instead of fighting British troops, we may use the troops as a protection for the colony. Instead of living in slavery chains for life, we may secure equality by teaching each other our customs and adapting to them. Instead of deciding for death, as Henry suggested, we may decide on a better life by living in peace with the British. However, if we lean towards Henry´s advice, we may suffer even more than we suffered before.


If we decide to take Henry´s suggestion of fighting for our freedom, I believe Henry shall take responsibility of his decision for the following reason. I completely disagree on deciding whether liberty or death, as he mentioned in the last paragraph of his speech. What happens if we go with Henry´s stupid idea of fighting and we lose the fight? Is Henry going to decide death for not obtaining the liberty that we were seeking? I’m sorry, but as owner of the idea he must stand for the consequences because not all the colonists who fought want to die. They have families to feed and houses to protect. Therefore, he must not leave us future problems caused by the war because he shall be the one forced to solve them in order to get our liberty. Do any of you colonists want to be held responsible for the battle´s effect? No, I don’t think so. Therefore, as for the compromising I suggested, I am willing to take care of my actions, without helping anyone responsible.


Also in the sixth paragraph of his speech, he stated: “There is no longer any room for hope” (Henry 2). How it that possible if he is suggesting a fight between us and the British troops? Doesn’t he hope we win the rough battle? Doesn’t he understand that hope is what we need in order to obtain our freedom? It is that simple for both of our suggestions: If we fight we shall hope we win and if make a compromise with the British we shall hope to get along with them and live the peaceful life we all deserve. As you can see, there is hope. Just because his thought of war and violence doesn’t give him room for hope doesn’t mean the rest of us colonists don’t have room for hope.


Finally, in the last paragraph he mentions that the war has started and that we must fight. I don’t think we should fight back because the British are going to fight back even harder and more violently. I believe we should stop the battle and solve it peacefully by compromising with the British because as the metonymic expressions says: “the pen is mightier than the sword”. If we talk out our problems with the British we may get better results than solving our problems with swords. We don’t want to lose our family, our home, our beloved colony of Virginia, or our dignity, so we must do what is best for us and stop the war. Let´s stop the violence and the slavery and let’s start living like civilized people. Violent won’t solve our problems because violence brings more violence.


Therefore, if fighting is the solution, neither I nor any of you colonists shall be given the responsibilities of the lost battle. On the other hand, if compromising with the British is the solution, I am willing to know everything about the British in order to provide you a safe environment. As I shall restate, war won’t benefit us in any aspect because compromising is what we need.

blog #3: PLAN TO CHANGE HONDURAS

To the fellow citizens of Honduras. September 5th, 2010.

Due to the insecurity for the high amount of criminality in the country for the past years, the plan proposed is for you people to change our formidable society into a comfortable one. Therefore, the plan is to create clinics that are a safe environment in which the criminals will recover from their hideous past. For the reason that, psychologically, most of the people are criminals due to the environment they were raised. In poor environments, children learn to work on the streets instead of going to school and they learn how to steal instead of working for what they need. Since Honduras is a very poor country, people don’t have many opportunities and as a result they become criminals.

Everyone should accept and follow the plan to be able to go out freely without feeling threatened or scared. The purpose of the plan proposed is to support Honduran tourism for the tourists, but most importantly to support the freedom of Honduran citizens of going out without any fear. Hondurans who can afford security are obligated to transport with a chauffeur or security guards, which in this situation is the best option for security. Though sometimes, due to experience, it gets annoying to be waiting for the chauffer to get everywhere and attend each family member satisfactorily. On the other hand, those who can’t afford that type of security are risking their lives everyday hoping they don’t get stolen or killed.

Wouldn’t people liked to just take their car and drive anywhere without feeling precarious of being threatened by a gun? Wouldn’t people like to follow the right of life and therefore not worrying that member of their family, friend, or colleague can be killed tomorrow? Wouldn’t people like to take a walk with their friend after a long day of work without being threatened for a cell phone? All answers should be: “Yes, people would strongly like that.” So, we need everyone to firmly support our plan.

The plan may possibly have a negative effect on those who are criminals because they may think it’s like jail but actually it is not. In a more descriptive way, the clinics will promote an educational safe place that will help them throughout their problems and it will educate those who can’t afford going to school. This will help Honduras move both socially and economically because we will posses qualified Honduras that will work together to make a better country. We will decrease the violent news printed in the newspaper. We will replace the terrible news with outstanding news of our successful Hondurans.

Either way, if the plan is not followed accordingly, criminals will not go directly to jail because it is neither the safest nor the best place for people with these issues. Therefore, instead of supporting the death penalty or the lifetime jail sentence, the criminals will be obligated to go to the educational clinics because we don’t want to create more violence. We want and we need people who are willing to work for their necessities and to promote the peace we need daily. Therefore, this plan will be carried nationally, from urban areas to rural areas, and we will be able to make a plan that will change Honduras.

work cited:

http://psychology.msu.edu/images/header-feature-images/clinic-header-feature-1.jpg