John and Abigail Adams' exchange during the wartime in Boston is used as historical writing today. The writing is old fashioned and complicated to a modern reader, and the style can teach us a lot.
During the Revolutionary War, Abigail and John exchange letters back and forth just to catch up with each other. In class today we read two of these letters. In the first, Abigail Adam plees for her husband to "remember the ladies". She states that if he fails to do this, the women will join forces and revolt. In almost sarcastic and annoyed response, John replies, "Whenever Vanity, and Gaiety, a Love of Pomp and Dress, Furniture, Equipage, Buildings, great Company, expensive Diversions, and elegant Entertainments get the better of the Principles and Judgments of Men or Women there is no knowing where they will stop, nor into what Evils, natural, moral, or political, they will lead us. (538)"
The sentence is abnormally long to emphasize his continuous thoughts. The capitalized words in the middle cause the reader to focus on these ideas of vanity, gairty, love, etc. He writes in a less formalized tone, expressing the comfortableness he has with his wife. These factors combined make it harder for the reader to pick out a specific tone.
this is good, but there isnt much analysis
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