Thomas Paine Writing Style

In the colonial period there were several influential political writers; who lived to make a change by their writings. One of the influential writer was Thomas Paine who made numerous contributions through his distinct writing in the creation of this great nation

When Paine wrote “The American Crisis: Number 1” his purpose was to provoke the American readers to rebel against Britain and fight for their independence. Paine successfully achieved it by using a mixture of inversion, figurative language and several rhetorical strategies. Therefore, Thomas Paine’s writing style and his ability to use rhetorical appeals, inversion, and figurative language managed to make the Americans feel passionate about independence.

Paine uses figurative

language in his writing to stress on certain parts of his arguments. He uses simile to make the Americans aware of the difficulty in overcoming the rule of British monarchs by saying “tranny like hell, is not easily conquered” (Paine 108). He also uses metaphor when he says “my own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light” (Paine 111) to create a comparison between his reasoning and a ray of light which indicates how he strongly defends his views and actions. Another component of figurative language that Paine used in writing was personification. In the statement “America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion” (Paine 108) Paine describes America to a woman who longs to be free from oppressive leaders of Great Britain. Thus by using figurative language Paine creates a vivid picture of the political situation raising awareness among the Americans.
Another style of writing Thomas Paine uses is inversion, where he constructs his sentences in an unusual pattern which makes the reader develop a new perspective in interpreting his arguments. For example when he says “though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire” (Paine 109). This sentence could have been rephrased by revising the order of words “may” and “sometimes” to convey a much clearer message. However, his unique ability to phrase sentences makes his arguments more strong and powerful to his audience.
The most important component in Paine’s writing is the use of rhetorical strategies. He uses all three components of ethos, pathos, logos to make his arguments clearly. He uses pathos to instill confidence into the colonists and convincing them war against the British is necessary. Paine influenced many farmers to fight against the British by saying “Not all the treasure of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me” (Paine 110). In order to convince people that fighting back is the best course of action Paine used logic in his argument such as “It will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their baseness…” (Paine 111). In this statement he is saying that both sides cannot exist at the same in America; the people must be either faithful to Britain or independent as a new nation. He also talks about religion to appeal to ethics of the readers. He says “I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion” (Paine 111) to argue that America will succeed in this dispute because men with good intentions never fail. His use of well-crafted words makes him reach out to his audience and connect with them deeply.
Thomas Paine in common sense focuses on the injustice colonies were facing and emphasizes on how these issues can have devastating impact in future. It provides solution to the governmental issues and persuades the colonists to unite and fight against the oppression of Great Britain to establish their own identity. I think Thomas Paine believes that colonies will keep on facing such political issues as long as they are affiliated with Great Britain therefore, he suggests the colonies to do the most common thing which is to fight for their independence and this is what he means common sense.