Letters From An American Farmer

When the Virginia Company landed at the James River in 1606 no one thought they had just planted the seeds to a powerful and mighty nation. The first immigrants who landed in пÑ--Ð...AmericaпÑ--Ð... were a bedraggled bunch looking for a quick buck. Soon more would follow and colonies would sprout up, along with the hope of a better life. Michel пÑ--Ð... Guillaume Jean de CrпÑ--Ð...vecoer was a French emigrant who arrived in America in 1759 and traveled around the country for ten years. His travels gave him the inspiration to write about life in America in a series of twelve essays called Letters from an American Farmer. One of the best know essays is пÑ--Ð...What Is an American?пÑ--Ð... which uses chronological organization, extended metaphors, symbolism, and diction, to remind the huddled masses of Europe how America has supplied them with a sanctuary from the oppressive tyranny in Europe.

Jean de CrпÑ--Ð...vecoer opens by painting a picture of sorrow and oppression in the lives of the immigrants. Jean de CrпÑ--Ð...vecoer uses negative connotation in the first half of his piece by putting in phrases like пÑ--Ð...wretchпÑ--Ð..., пÑ--Ð...pinching penuryпÑ--Ð..., пÑ--Ð...punishmentпÑ--Ð..., and repetition of the word пÑ--Ð...poorпÑ--Ð... to show how the immigrants lives were a horrible, dirty, miserable existence. They lived below poverty with dogs and fleas, eating rotten bread that the rich didnпÑ--Ð...t think good enough to give to their dogs. These negative connotations support his rhetorical question: пÑ--Ð...Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starvesпÑ--Ð... call England or any other kingdom his country?пÑ--Ð... (290). No immigrant who has been treated in such a horrid manner would take such oppression anymore. They would instead listen and cling to tales of a far off country where all people are treated as equals and no one is oppressed.

Jean