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Rhetorical Analysis Of Common Sense By Thomas Paine

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The American Revolution is most commonly believed to have been won by war. However, a war amongst the American people had to be won before action against their oppressors would ever take place; a war of intellect. The cause of the American Revolution was saved through acts of writing much like “Common Sense”, by Thomas Paine. His words and opinions of America’s future weighed heavily on the minds of its citizens. The power of writing was fully expressed through his various rhetorical strategies. It was through his rhetoric that he was able to fully express his belief in America, and furthermore, the development of a republic for post revolutionary America. It became his goal to share his vision with others. Paine’s rhetorical strategies worked …show more content…
Preconceptions stand in the way of any speaker or writer’s purpose. Paine recognized this, and rebuttals them from the start of his essay, “Some writers have so confounded society with government as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins” (par. 1). Restated, Paine knew that many people confused society with government. This important counterclaim allowed Paine to justify the start of his essay, and explain a misconception of an important topic he would later discuss. Paine continues on to express that it should be very obvious that there’s no similarity between society and government, but yet they’ve become perceived as one. Paine’s clear parallelism reveals the striking differences between society and government when he says, “the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercouse, the other creastes distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher” (par. 1). His use of parallelism is able to more clearly expose the differences between the two. "[Society] promotes our happiness…[government] negatively by restraining our vices". This correlation shows the difference in an undeniable way. It becomes true, after careful consideration, that society and government are anything but alike. It’s at this point in Paine’s essay that many readers make the connection …show more content…
Paine’s covert appeal to the pathos plants a truth inside the minds of his readers that a republic is the purest form a government, “and as this frequent interchange will establish a common interest with every part of the community, they will mutually and naturally support each other” (par. 6). The diction in this section is very relevant. Words like “mutually” and “naturally” make the reader subconsciously agree with the idea of a republic. This is credited to the positive connotation of the words. Paine also addresses the likely doubts or confusion his readers will face. Paine’s appeal to the doubts of pathos, analyzes the possible prejudice that would limit positive views of a Republic when he says, “and however our eyes may be dazzled with show, or our ears deceived by sound; however prejudice may warp our wills, or interest darken our understanding, the simple voice of nature and of reason will say, it is right” (par. 7). In other words Paine effectively convinces his readers that deep down, possibly subconsciously, they know a republic is right. By making his readers feel as if they already knew a republic is the best option, he appeals to his own credibility.nOnce the reader is convinced that they believe in the same thing as the author, trust is formed. The trust between Paine and his audience is formally known as ‘an appeal to ethos’. The reader forms a personal

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