A Rhetorical Analysis Of Paine's Arguments

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Paine persuades the colonists by his use of bias words throughout his argument. An example of this is shown on page 237 in the second paragraph when he is refuting the claim that Britain is the parent country and describing the relationship between Britain and the colonies. When he initially starts this paragraph, he uses the word “parent” to describe Britain, which invokes the thoughts of a motherly relationship. He then contrasts this by describing Britain as being lower than a “brute”. When he contrasts the ideas of a person who is warm, loving, and caring to a person who is brutal, insensitive, and crude, he is causing feelings of distrust towards Britain and their sincerity. This is enhancing his ethos because he is discrediting the viability of Britain’s arguments to continue to be a part of the empire, which therefore helps his argument.