Abigail wrote an emotional letter to her son John Quincy Adams, who was away on a voyage with his father, an American diplomat and soon to be president. Abagail includes various rhetorical strategies including metaphor, allusion, and a strong appeal to ethos. Abigail wrote a letter to her son as not only a means to wish him safe travel, but also to ensure that he new his purpose on the voyage. As well as the responsibility he holds as John Adam's son. She shares the importances of his travel by stating "some author...compares a judicious traveler to a river, that increases its stream the further it flows from its source"(Adams 16-18). This metaphor compares a river that flows stronger as it moves farther from its source to a traveller who,
