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thomas paine's “the crisis no. 1”
thomas paine's “the crisis no. 1”
thomas paine's “the crisis no. 1”
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Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. As Abraham Lincoln has stated, the human soul has and can survive many atrocious and scarring things. It is also stated that to find the true intent of a person’s heart is by providing an individual with power. People have been able to overcome many hard and “impossible” obstacles in this life. It is the human spirit that pushed and pushed to use those hindrances as stairs to a way of a better life. All throughout the known history of humans’ phenomenal changes have occurred, most of these, ignited by people. The human race is powered by nothing more than a population of independent humans. Each mortal is individually pushed, torn, and grown by that of nothing but merely a spirit, the Human Spirit. It is what to pushes on, and reaches for that which is hoped for.
The theme of the human spirit is present in The Crisis by Thomas Paine articulating thoughts and feelings of the fears of the people as they are about to go against Britain:
I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupported to perish, who have earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent (Paine 161).
This quote is a perfect example of the human spirit because it shows how people are spiritually stretched and strengthened during times of hardships. It gives the people hope built from reasoning that their needs were not being met but simply ignored. Thomas Paine encourages the people to take action for themselves by focusing on all the bad things that were hap...
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... is more than just a theme in a book or play. It is a way of life, it is protruded in The Crisis, The Crucible, as well as Before My Heart Stops and The Minister’s Black Veil. The human spirit is the way humans grow in this life. It is what drives to reach for more and obtain that which is hoped both emotionally and spiritually.
Works Cited
Cardall, Paul. Before My Heart Stops. Utah: Shadow Mountain, 2010. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black veil." Prentice Hall Literature...The American Experience . New Jeresy: Pearson Education Inc, 2002. 336-349. print.
Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible." Prentice Hall Literature...The American Experience . New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc, 2002. 1233-1334. Print.
Paine, Thomas. "from The Crisis Number 1." Prentice Hall Literature...The American Experience . New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc, 2002. 160-163. Print.
Within Thomas Paine’s political pamphlet “Common Sense”, one is able to see rhetorical devices used to persuade the audience to rebel against the English Monarchy. In doing so, Paine instills hope within his readers through ethos, logos, and pathos. Moreover, by comparing society to the British government one acknowledges his perspective of life, liberty, and prosperity being the government’s solitary purpose. Using the common language of the uneducated citizens, the readers are able to understand and relate to his argument through inductive reasoning. However, comparing Paine’s political pamphlet “The Crisis”, one is able to see distinct similarities and differences in his rhetoric when compared to “Common Sense”.
Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine were the infrastructures are the Revolutionary movement against their father country, Great Britain. Patrick Henry was a Governor from Virginia, who became notorious for his presence as a persuasive orator in the Virginia House of Burgess. One of the most intricate works he utilized to get Congress on board for war spoke to the Convention on March 23, 1775, Speech to the Virginia Convention. He offered a proposition to the Convention as he saw them tilting towards a diplomatic approach but Henry saw that war was inevitable and they needed to bear down for the struggle. In contrast, Thomas Paine was blatant with his purpose for writing The Crisis, No. 1. Paine was a gun hoe political activist with a niche for radial pieces. His audience differed from Henry, who was appealing to Politicians and had to evoke the logical side to augment credibility amongst the Convention. Paine had to render the spirits of soldiers beaten and weary from the extended periods of war and brutal winter. Markedly, the soldiers endured bouts of depression provoked by a sense of defeat and loss of time with their families. Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine knew they had to conjure fighting spirits in the people, who have allowed domination by a country thousands of miles away. Henry and Paine had a proclivity to move people with graphic and thought-provoking works bursting with rhetoric and figurative language that awakened the souls of their diverse audiences to ignite the war for freedom.
In The Crisis, No.1 Thomas Paine utilizes many different types of rhetorical devices to persuade the readers that America is the strongest it has ever been and Great Britain is at a weak point. Paine uses metaphoric language to compare the greatness of America and Americans different types of connotation, and allusions to rally the American troops. Using different types of connotation Thomas Paine demonstrates the negative opinions he and most Americans had formed towards their overlords in England. Finally, he convinces his audience that the Colonists will win the war solely because God Almighty was on their side.
The eighteenth century, a time of turmoil and chaos in the colonies, brought many opinionated writers to the forefront in support or refutation of the coming American Revolution. This highly controversial war that would ultimately separate the future United States of America from Great Britain became the center of debate. Two writers, both of whom supported the Revolution, now stand to fully illuminate one side of the debate. Thomas Paine, a radical propagandist, wrote many pieces during this time including “The Crisis Number 1” (1776). Through writing, he appealed to the “common man” in order to convince them to gather their arms and fight for their freedom. In this document, he utilizes many of the same rhetorical skills and propaganda techniques as Patrick Henry, a convincing orator, did in his famous speech delivered to the state’s delegates in 1775. Among these techniques are transfer, abstract language, and pathos. In both works, these were used to call the audiences to war. These influential pieces both contained a call to action which, through the use of strong and decisive language, aided the beginning of the American Revolution.
Thomas Paine’s objective in “The American Crisis” is to persuade Americans to untie and take action in ridding America of British control; his writings effectiveness is due primarily to his employment of religious diction, vivid imagery, a sentimental anecdote, an urgent tone, as well as his consistent exploitation of his audiences’ emotions.
Thomas Paine's uneducated and harsh lifestyle aided him in his writings of "The Crisis." In his passionate writing of "The Crisis" he believed that a land free from British tyranny was developed. In this writing Paine wrote in a simple style and used everyday words so that the common and poor people, such as himself, could be able to read and understand his point in his writing. The writings included problems and struggles with Britain and his argument against them. He started of by saying, "These are the times that try men's souls." This meant that loyal people were being run under the unfairness leadership of the British monarchy.
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman” (Paine). With these words Thomas Paine’s inspiring, but inflated rhetoric helped to transform a dispute about taxes into a struggle for the soul of man. This kind of language united the feuding colonies around a principle greater than their own economic interests.
In his 1791 publication, Rights of Man, Thomas Paine, an American revolutionary and pamphleteer, characterized America as a just nation where “the principles of society and the rights of man” unite all Americans together. Paine painted an ideal image of America, one founded on unity, equality, and freedom that appears ludicrous to some and visionary to others; however, by combining certain elements of Paine’s America and casting out others we can paint a more vivid picture of contemporary America as only some aspects of Paine’s America remain true. In today’s America, as Paine stated, “the poor are not oppressed” as we see many politicians and citizens dedicate time and effort toward assisting the poor and developing plans to help them out
Paine had not entertained the idea of independence from Britain when he arrived in America. He thought it was “a kind of treason” to break away from Britain. It was not until the Battle of Lexington in 1775 that he considered “the compact between Britain and America to be broken” (Claeys). This idea of a broken compact allowed Thomas Paine to write a political pamphlet.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Kate Kinsella, et. Al, New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2002. 1233-1334. Print.
League, Ian, ed. “from the Crisis, No.1-Thomas Paine.” Elements of Literature-Fifth Course. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 2000: 108-111.
Gallagher, Edward J. "Thomas Paine's Crisis 1 and the Comfort of Time." Explicator 68, no. 2 (April 2010): 87-89. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 27, 2011).
England was a powerful kingdom ran by a strong King name William the Conquer. King William felt as if what he says goes, and this made the Americans furious because they had no say so in the government. Thomas Paine then came along a smart and intelligent guy who made Americans realize that one does not need to be part of the England society lets succeed away from their laws and be independent. Knowing his audience well, Thomas Paine used many biblical allusions to encourage revolution in his classic pamplet Common Sense.
Defining the American character is quite difficult because American identity is vaguely founded on shared values and ideologies, more so than a particular creed, race, or culture. In order to describe the American character, we will consider the dominate and distinctive qualities of Americans as interpreted by J. Hector St. Jon De Crèvecoeur and Thomas Paine. First, we will examine how Crèvecoeur illustrates Americans as industrious, prideful, and political in “Letters from an American Farmer.” Then, we will analyze from Thomas Paine's “Common Sense” how he depicts the prevalent qualities of Americans to be driven by justice, liberty, emotions, and individualism. Also, because both authors consider the American character and culture different
"Thomas Paine "These ar the times that try men's soul."ushistory.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov 2011. .