Elizabeth Boardman's Letter To An Immigrant

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1. Give a detailed description of the letter writer. What is their likely socio-economic status? [Consistent spelling errors are not necessarily a sign of a lack of an education in the nineteenth century.] Religion [if known]? Reason for emigrating? Assess their view of the immigrant experience: do they seem contented and successful? [Back up your claims with evidence from the letter. ] The writer of the letters is Elizabeth Boardman; and her letters are addressed to her father, James Boardman. Due to the format of the address and stating “Care of…”, it is assumed that Elizabeth’s father, James Boardman, works for Mr. Richard Troter. Elizabeth migrated to Canada leaving her family and friends back home in Ireland, but she sends letters…show more content…
Elizabeth is always asking her family how well they are and always telling her parents to say hi to her neighbours, friends, and acquaintances. Any immigrant coming by themselves will always be home sick until they start getting use to their new lifestyle in that new country. So for Elizabeth, she keeps God in mind and tells her parents to pray and that she’ll be praying for them as well. Elizabeth also talks about how she wishes all her family would come and join her in Canada, but she knows that that will never happen, so she tells her family, “if we never meet in this world I hope we will meet in the next”. This shows that money is a big issue and that not everyone can afford a ticket to go to Canada to be with their…show more content…
Farming is a big deal in Ireland and is the source of their economy; religion is also a big deal, majority of Irish people are Protestant or Christian. Elizabeth mentioned in the letter how Reverend John Caisey from the Presbyterian church is a “scotch man”, which to me sounds like an Irish thing, Irish people drinking scotch. She also mentions that how Reverend John Caisey has “many of County Armagh belong to him”, which I am not really sure what she means by it, but she related County Armagh (I am guessing her home town) to it. 4. Write a three to five paragraph reply letter. Use modern spelling. Dear Elizabeth, We are very happy to hear that you and your cousin Isaac might own a house together, please give our regards to Isaacs’s parents. Let us know if your address has changed so that there will not be any confusion and our mails will not be lost. Your brothers and sisters are all doing well and they all give their regards to you. They too wish they could come and see you in Canada, but money over here is not that great. My crops are doing well thank the Lord, I hope they will still be well throughout the summer. I have been getting back aches but your mother is keeping me stable. She also sends her love and regards to you. She wishes you well and a happy life and if we do not see you in this world again, we will see

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