A Rhetorical Analysis Of Thomas Paine's Common Sense

In paragraph four, Paine begins his use of rhetorical appeal by blatantly stating, “Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must sometime or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, ‘If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace’” (Paine, 88). Paine uses the form of rhetoric, pathos, in order to emotionally connect with his readers. Appealing to their sense of compassion and love, he suggests that there is no evading war, only postponing it for their posterity, and only a selfish parent would refuse to fight for their

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph,” imagine hearing that when you need motivation in what seems like the scariest time of your life. Thomas Paine created this pamphlet, Common Sense, in January 1776. Some may question the purpose, and that was to motivate Americans to fight for what they believe in, what they want and what they deserve during the British conflict. Throughout Crisis No. 1, Thomas Paine uses pathos to persuade the colonist and revolutionaries to go to war against the British. Paine talks about how the future will improve, and mentions God many times throughout his pamphlet.

In 1776, an important event was happening in the United States, the Revolutionary war. The thirteen colonies wanted to break away from Britain’s rule, however the chances of winning were very slim. For this reason, 1/3 of the citizens were for a revolution, 1/3 of the citizens were against it, and 1/3 of them were undecided. Thomas Paine realized that to become a free and independent nation, he would need the help of every citizen in the colonies. Because of this he wrote The Crisis No. 1 to increase the morale of the people, so that they would fight against Britain in the war. In The Crisis No. 1 Thomas Paine effectively used rhetorical devices to convince people to fight in the revolutionary war.

In 1775-1776, the colonists almost gave up in their fight against Great Britain. They needed the motivation to keep fighting for their freedom. The speeches of Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine convinced the colonists to keep fighting against Great Britain for their independence. In both of their speeches, they used rhetorical devices to support their claim and created rhetorical appeals to persuade the colonists to risk their lives to defend their rights. Both Henry and Paine used many rhetorical devices and rhetorical appeals in their speeches to encourage the colonists to gain their liberty from Great Britain and defend their country, the United States of America.

Common Sense challenged the authority of the British Government. It was the first pamphlet to advocate American Independence. Some of the things Paine covered: the superiority of republican government over a monarchical system, equality of rights among all citizens, and the world significance of the American Independence. Paine wanted his thoughts to be heard and to have other people think about what he has said. His goal was to help America become free from the British.

American colonists were getting more and more frustrated with the rules being forced onto them by the British, so Thomas Paine’s timing was very crucial in convincing everyone to take such drastic measures. Paine’s structure makes it clear the colonists need only one more final inspiration to fight and he wants to present that as simply as possible by saying, “In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense...” (Paine n.pag.). Thomas Paine was a patriot of the 1770s, meaning he was one of the people who did not like being controlled by the British. The structure gives Paine a specific tone that seems very understandable and very to-the-point. He is trying to spread the idea that the solution to their Britain problem is very simple, but is overlooked by most colonists before 1776 when the pamphlet was written. He blatantly and clearly presents his argument immediately to his readers to give the colonists confidence and make them feel starting a rebellion will be easy to win and worthwhile to do. The colonists all came to the colonies to gain some freedom from the British Empire, yet are still getting controlled by them without any physical representation.

The more people who would comprehend Paine’s call for action would be more likely to be inspired to fight. Paine states, “I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth to your ears” (695). Paine took caution to stay away from terminology unknown by the uneducated colonists. Paine also took time to address all social classes and types of people within the colonies. He explained, “It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the

Expressing Paine’s views that a revolution was inevitable due to a number of insurmountable problems, written in a way that his audience, everyday colonial Americans, could understand. He expresses his ultimate view that “The authority of Great Britain over this continent is a form of government which sooner or later must have and end (Paine 25)” and that end is

In the pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine, one of the most influential reformers at the time, Paine explicitly explains why the colonies should politically and economically separate from Great Britain. His viewpoint is that the colonies should be independent of Great Britain since they’ve suffered under unfair British autocratic rule for too long. His viewpoint is developed through the usage of figurative language as well as rhetorical appeal and supported in his counterargument. Therefore, Paine’s viewpoint is that America should be independent of Great Britain. One of the techniques Paine uses to develop his argument is figurative language.

Thomas Paine, one of the United States’ greatest minds behind the American Revolution, published Common Sense in 1776 with intent on persuading the colonies to pursue a war already bound to happen. His simple gripping prose promoted the premise that the rebellion was not about subjects wronged by their monarch, but a group of independent people being oppressed by a foreign government. Common Sense played a drastic part in the American Revolution, as its use of rhetoric and vigor assisted him in stating that war has already began, that now is the time to fight, and demonizing Great Britain as a brute, one of which has no respect for other people. Paine sets the groundwork for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution by attempting

In the pamphlet, “Common Sense,” written by Thomas Paine to the current inhabitants of America, he addresses the flaws of the reasoning of the loyalists and persuasively shows the audience the right path. He does this effectively by appealing to the rhetoric form of logos, setting up each of his arguments with a parallel structure, and by using simple language that everyone can understand.

Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, is a major document of American history written between 1775-76. In this, Paine argues for the independence of the colonies. He begins his argument with general reflections about government and religion. He then specifies issues that dealt with the colonies.

Thomas Paine was responsible for some of the most influential works of the revolution. Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense was a very crucial part to America and its movement of independence from Britain. Paine was effective with his writings by being very plain. He wanted both farmers and officials to understand what he was talking about and be able to comprehend his ideas. Paine wanted to put his ideas out to the people of the American colonies so that they could understand it just by reading and not have to analyze and decipher what he was really trying to get across. He wanted to let the colonist know that there was no more room for talking about a split from English rule but it was time for the colonies to unite and take up arms against their British oppressors.

Thomas Paine, in his renowned work Common Sense, unambiguously uses pathos to call the founding fathers, and the American colonies as a whole, to action against the oppression of the British government. By using explicit figurative language, passionate diction, and the persistent parallel structure used to create correlation between citizen and governing powers, Paine masterfully manipulates the rhetorical appeals and devices in this piece in order to inspire action.

In The Crisis No. 1, Thomas Paine creates an objective tone to unite and rally the nation by showing what kind of man the King of Britain is. Paine achieved his goal by using a variety of rhetorical devices. He connected to the nation through the use of his