John Downe Ap Lang Analysis Essay

996 Words4 Pages
1 Cassidy Hall 18 January 2011 Period 3 7 or Bust Essay Leaving behind his family in 1830, John Downe, a weaver from England, traveled to the United States in search of opportunities not accessible in his homeland. He voyaged across the Atlantic in order to generate enough money for his wife and children to join him. In this letter home, John highlights the supremacy of the United States over that of England through the utilization of the rhetorical triangle, hyperbole, and syntax. His use of these creates a persuasive argument in favor of his wife emigrating. The first paragraph of the letter opens formally with John greeting his wife. He immediately establishes ethos, stating his job situation in a factory which he has full management over. This sets up his credibility for the rest of the letter: he is working and generating money to support his family here. He then explains to his wife the generosity of a Farmer he encountered one day, one whom eagerly gave him a ride into town and welcomed him into his house without asking for any payment in return. John includes this in his letter as to express the generosity among American natives. Continuing that expression, he lists all the food they had out on the table, “pudding, pyes, and fruit of all kind that was in season, and preserves, pickles, vegetables, meat, and everything that a person could wish.” Not only does this long list of items make a meal sound like a feast, John also uses a hyperbole when saying “everything that a person could wish,” surly there is not every possible desirable piece of food available, but is more than anything they could imagine having in England. Expecting his wife’s doubt, John 2 quickly jumps to logos when stating, “they do not think of locking the doors in the country.” Using an example based on fact, he logical establishes the United States of a safe place where his

More about John Downe Ap Lang Analysis Essay

Open Document