Common Sense by Thomas Paine insists on the reader the simplicity and necessity of Paine's political ideas. The very title of the essay suggests how obvious and common this perspective ought to be. Throughout his essay, Paine uses somewhat informal dialogue, as if he is having a discussion with the audience, rather than, say, preaching a sermon. The time period that this was written in is incredibly important, as it was written around the time that America was about to go to war with Great Britain, over the issues explained in Common Sense, in vivid detail.
In this essay, Paine admits that he will possibly be unable to persuade his audience- a humble gesture on his part, putting him on 'equal playing ground' with his audience, and developing ethos by portraying himself as an understanding individual. However, he shows off his confidence in his ideals when he explains that with time, more people will grow to understand and agree with him. He goes so far as to insult people who disagree with him, to an extent, as he describes them as being "caught in a tumult". So, we see a number of intelligent strategies in this introduction: developing ethos by way of appearing relate-able, yet firmly establishing his unflinching stance on his political opinions.
Paine continues using strong and powerful dialogue throughout this essay, but he always reverts to logical reasonings in his explanations. He uses incredibly emotional speech to "stir up" the audience, who mostly agreed with him at the time to begin with, in order to 'call to action', and effectively start a revolution. Paine takes advantage of the already common opinion that the colonists are being taken advantage of by the colonists, and exaggerates these fears to an incredibly large extent, in order to make his influence even more powerful and determined.
In this essay, Paine admits that he will possibly be unable to persuade his audience- a humble gesture on his part, putting him on 'equal playing ground' with his audience, and developing ethos by portraying himself as an understanding individual. However, he shows off his confidence in his ideals when he explains that with time, more people will grow to understand and agree with him. He goes so far as to insult people who disagree with him, to an extent, as he describes them as being "caught in a tumult". So, we see a number of intelligent strategies in this introduction: developing ethos by way of appearing relate-able, yet firmly establishing his unflinching stance on his political opinions.
Paine continues using strong and powerful dialogue throughout this essay, but he always reverts to logical reasonings in his explanations. He uses incredibly emotional speech to "stir up" the audience, who mostly agreed with him at the time to begin with, in order to 'call to action', and effectively start a revolution. Paine takes advantage of the already common opinion that the colonists are being taken advantage of by the colonists, and exaggerates these fears to an incredibly large extent, in order to make his influence even more powerful and determined.