On October 4, 1746, Lord Chesterfield wrote a letter to his son who was traveling away

from home. In his letter, Chesterfield conveyed two values to his son which he believed were of

the utmost importance. He stressed to his son the importance of ones reputation and the value

of education. Throughout his letter, Chesterfield includes irony, pathos, rhetorical questions,

and juxtaposition to effectively relay these values to his son.

In the first half of his letter, Chesterfield emphasizes the importance of ones reputation.

He explains to his son how his actions will not only reflect himself, but will also reflect his dear

father. To effectively convey this message Chesterfield claims, I do not therefore, so much as

hint to you how absolutely dependent you are upon me; that you neither have, nor have a

shilling in the world but from me In these lines, Chesterfield uses irony, claiming that he will

not tell his son that he is dependent upon his father, but then goes on, however, to tell his son

that he is, in fact, completely dependent on his father. He uses this sense of irony to make his

son a little upset about his dads comments toward him and to elicit a desire to prove his dad

wrong. Chesterfield also hints to this in a later quote where he suggests, I mean for the sake of

affection and gratitude to me. He uses pathos here to appeal to his sons emotions so that his

son will help his father out of pure generosity and kindness. This phrase suggests a level of

sarcasm in Chesterfields tone which hints upon his sons character. From this quote, the

audience can assume that Chesterfields son does not have a close relationship with his dad.

Here, Chesterfield is hinting upon this and attempting to tell his son that he is serious about his

message and telling his son that it is imperative that he listen to this message his dad is telling

him.
 In the course of the second half of the passage, however, Chesterfield shifts his focus on

his second value of importance - education. In this section of the letter, Chesterfield explains to

his son the value of education and the ability to surpass ones peers. He hints upon the

importance he feels this value has several times throughout his letter. For example, he first asks,

can there be a greater pleasure that to be universally allowed to excel those of ones own age

and manner of life? In this quote, Chesterfield uses a rhetorical question to stress to his son

the importance of education as well as being successful. This use of a rhetorical question is

intended to create a pause so his son can stop and think about his fathers comment and reflect

upon this feeling itself as well as on his past actions. Based on Chesterfield's need to include and

emphasize the importance of this topic in his letter, the reader can assume that his son does not

share the same value of education that his father does. Therefore, the reader can also assume

that this question is meant to make his son feel ashamed of his attitude toward education and

hopefully encourage him to take this issue more seriously. Chesterfield also conveys the

importance of education later in his letter when he claims, ...for in my mind, one may as well

not know a thing at all, as know it but imperfectly. To know a little of anything, gives neither

satisfaction nor credit; but often brings disgrace and ridicule. Here, Chesterfield uses

juxtaposition to compare two states of knowledge for his son in order to persuade him into

pursuing an education. He uses this rhetorical device so that his son can compare these two

states of knowledge and apply it to the thought of his future. He compares not knowing

anything at all to knowing only little of a subject. He implies that knowing only a little of one

subject is more disgraceful based on the assumption of a lack of effort put forth by those who
follow through on this state of knowledge. He is, therefore, attempting to persuade his son into

putting effort into his education and taking it more seriously.

Chesterfield expresses his concerns to his son in his letter through many different

strategies. He genuinely cares about the well-being of his son and, therefore, hopes to help

advise him in his journey away from home. His care and concern for his son is eminent in his

letter as expressed by the values implemented throughout the letter and the worries he

possesses.