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The Rhetorical Analysis Of Thomas Paine's The Crisis

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During the period of time in which the colonies were breaking away from Great Britain, many of the colonists had doubts and were at times divided on the topic. However, there were also a collection of people that worked to restore the unity of the colonists. Among these people were Thomas Paine, the author of The Crisis. In this collection or articles, Paine persuades his audience to remain united using evidence, reasoning, and stylistic or persuasive elements. The first way that Paine convinces his audience is using evidence. Paine starts this immediately in the first paragraph of The Crisis, referencing Britain’s tyranny and taxing. “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have the consolation with us, that the harder the …show more content…

In lines 37-40 he says “... a generous parent would have said, “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace:””. This example puts the listener of The Crisis in a mindset that forces them to consider the future, not only for themselves, but also for their children. This helps to persuade the audience because they must reason with the idea that Paine has presented to them. To add to the idea of reasoning, Paine says in lines 43-46 “America will never be happy until she gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing will break out until that period arrives, and the continent in the end must be the conqueror; for, though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal never can expire…”. This statement has a number of meanings to it. The first concept that Paine highlights is the idea of escaping from other countries. It is unlikely that Paine was scared of directing this towards Britain exclusively, so it could be concluded that this was meant towards all countries in general, and if this is the case then Paine was already trying to convince the people of America that isolationism was the route that they should be directed towards. After this point, he makes reference to liberty. During this time, America was an experimental country with freedoms and liberties that no other country had seen before, using democracy, a principle that not many countries had used. Although Paine was known for directing The Crisis

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