Similarities Between The American Crisis And The Declaration Of Independence

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The only way to resolve a problem is to act on it. This message is very crucial in both The American Crisis and The Declaration of Independence. In The American Crisis,Thomas Paine's goal was to rally the people in the colonies and persuade them to fight England for Independence. In The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson elucidates the reasons on why it is in the most preeminent interest of the colonies to become independent. Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson use ethical appeal, parallelism, and emotional appeal in The American Crisis and The Declaration of Independence to show the theme to the reader that the only way to achieve a goal is to fight to achieve it. To begin with, both authors use an ethical appeal to persuade people …show more content…

In The American Crisis,Thomas Paine uses parallelism to point out the fact that if the colonists want to retaliate, everyone needs to play a part. When he tells the people to stand up for themselves and retaliate he states, ¨…I call not upon a few, but upon all…¨ (Paine 118). The citation shows how Paine wants to make it clear to the reader that it is every colonists´ obligation to retaliate against England, and he uses parallelism to make that clear. Similar to how Paine uses parallelism, in The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson uses parallelism to remind the reader of why the colonies need independence. When Jefferson talks about why the colonists need to retaliate he states, ¨Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor¨ (Jefferson 115). This piece of evidence shows how Jefferson is making it clear to the reader of reasons why they have to fight for independence using parallelism. Even though both authors use parallelism with the goal to persuade the reader into wanting independence, they use this rhetorical device in different ways. Paine uses this device to remind the reader of what they need to do. Different from Paine, Jefferson uses this device to structure the three main reasons why the colonists are going to retaliate. In conclusion, even though the two authors approach the use of parallelism differently, they both use it to make clear to the reader that the colonists need