Lord_Chesterfield

In 1746, Lord Chesterfield wrote a persuasive and caring letter to his son who had left home to travel and to attain a higher education. Throughout his profound and powerful, letter, Lord Chesterfield uses many important and meaningful literary and rhetorical devices. Lord Chesterfield specifically uses experienced and educational logical, hard-working and painful diction, as well as hard work related ethical appeals that he values wisdom, hard work and tolerance. In multiple places in his written letter, Lord Chesterfield uses logical appeals pertaining to his past life experiences to show that he knows and holds himself true to the value of great wisdom. When Lord Chesterfield states “Let my experience supply your want of it, and clear your way in the progress of your youth, of those thorns and briars which scratched and disfigured me in the course of mine”, he illustrates his younger days wherein he recounts that, his youth and inexperience had physically and figuratively “scratched and disfigured” him, but the favorable repercussions of learning from mistakes and gaining wisdom outweighed the vexations. Lord Chesterfield desires the reader to realize and understand that, if wisdom comes from “experience”, and he has through his “youth” gained much experience, then he is in fact a wise and exceptionally knowledgeable man who anyone may rely and depend upon. Lord Chesterfield once again appeals to the reader’s logic by stating, “I have so often recommended to you attention and application to whatever you learn”. Lord Chesterfield categorizes learning and advanced education as “absolutely necessary”, and an extremely wise thing of which every living person should partake. Lord Chesterfield also desires the reader, his son, to see that, by advocating learning and the attainment of knowledge, Lord Chesterfield must obviously have great wisdom, and preciously value that same wisdom. Throughout his speech, Lord Chesterfield also uses hardworking diction to show that he values hard work and duty to one’s obligations and commitments. Words such as “duties”, “absolutely necessary”, and “principles”, show that to gain “pleasures”, one must work hard and stick to their “duties”. Chesterfield’s diction highlights that he expects this same hardworking style of life from not only his “Dear Boy”, but also himself. Lord Chesterfield, through the use of his painful diction, also shows that he can and will tolerate many things, especially pain and suffering. Chesterfield uses words such as “thorns”, “briars”, “scratched”, and “weakness” to highlight that he has lived through and overcame troublesome pain and suffering but, despite these tortures, he has successfully recovered to “excel those of” his “own age and manner of life”. He wants the reader to understand that, although once “disfigured” and physically and mentally hurt, he tolerated the pain. Lord Chesterfield successfully lived on and, through his tolerance, even had the ability, strength, and desire to share his past experiences, mistakes, and wisdom with his “Dear Boy”. Lord Chesterfield also extensively uses work related ethical appeals in his letter to his son to reveal that he values hard work. When he states, “I do not confine the application which I recommend, singly to the view and emulation of excelling others […]”, Lord Chesterfield shows his son that he believes, cherishes, and places high value upon the idea that people should “excel” in something for the simple fact and “pleasure” of doing something to their very possible best, and not merely or intentionally to compete against others and “excel” at their expense. This also shows that Lord Chesterfield personally sympathizes and attests to this idea of hard work and great diligence. Lord Chesterfield hopes to appeal to his son’s ethics and evoke and instill this same sense of hard work ethic, and the idea of “excelling”, in his son, who will see and understand his father’s true beliefs regarding work. Thus, he will strive to be like his father. Lord Chesterfield once again appeals to his son’s ethics when he states, “Though I employ so much of my time in writing to you, I confess I have often my doubts whether it is to any purpose”. Lord Chesterfield does this to point out to his Son that he, a man of great “merit”, takes great “time” to correspond with and help a lost “Boy”. Lord Chesterfield wants his son to see that if Lord Chesterfield, a great man, cares for such an insignificant “Boy”, and similarly cares for all other humans, his son should at least honor his father’s efforts of attempting to help, by reading the letter and living up to the understood expectations of “excelling”. To Lord Chesterfield, “excelling” means to know a subject completely such that you position yourself as informed in a manner superior to your peers, “[…] in my mind, one may as well not know a thing at all, as know it but imperfectly”. Lord Chesterfield does all of this so that this same roused ethical sense of honoring those who have honored and helped you will guide his son to believe that he personally cares for, and wants the best for not only his own “Dear” son, but also the rest of the world. In 1746, Lord Chesterfield of England crafted a well written and persuasive letter to his son that revealed and highlighted many of his own personal standards, his life styles and his values. Throughout his profound and moving letter, Lord Chesterfield effectively used many literary and rhetorical techniques, devices, and strategies to convince his son of his own personal values and standards. First, Lord Chesterfield used experienced and educational logical appeals to show that he valued wisdom and higher education. Next, Lord Chesterfield used honorable and painful diction to highlight that he valued hard work and believes himself a man of great tolerance. Finally, Lord Chesterfield effectively used work related and honorable ethical appeals to once again emphasize that he valued and personally held himself accountable to a standard of hard work and caring for all others.