Samuel Johnson's Letter Essay

In his letter, eighteenth century writer, Samuel Johnson constructs his rejection of a woman seeking his assistance in convincing the archbishop of Canterbury to admission to a university. Formal and detached, Johnson conveys his unwillingness to fulfill the mother’s request through the implementation of definition, tone shift, and logical appeal.
Samuel Johnson pursues a sensitive approach and begins his letter by addressing the mother’s hopeful feelings, defining them as “the chief happiness which this world affords”, rather than commence his letter with the immediate rejection of the mother’s request. However, Johnson then goes on to explain that hope is followed by a common course in which the overabundance of hope must be “expiated by