The Crisis Questions and Answers
The Crisis
Sunshine Patriot
Since I have little to add to the splendid answers given above, I thought I'd do some digging around on the internet and see how this phrase has been discussed by others. Below are some shortened...
The Crisis
In Thomas Paine's "The Crisis," what does he mean by "the times that try men's souls?"
The word "try" here is meant as a "trial." Men's souls and their wills were being tested during the American Revolution. For most of the war, the American colonists were not winning. In the...
The Crisis
"Mutual fear is the principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to that state that breaks the compact"....
Paine's pamphlet was meant to inspire the Colonists in the early stages of as challenging struggle. Essentially, Paine sought to make the argument that early losses will "try" the spirits of the...
The Crisis
In the Crisis, No 1 by Thomas Paine, who was his intended audience?
In "Crisis Number 1," Thomas Paine tries to convince the average, undecided colonist to support the Patriots in their fight against the British. Many colonists believed an attempt at gaining...
The Crisis
Thomas Paine compares Britain to a thief who breaks into a house. How does he use this comparison to motivate...
In "The Crisis, No.1," Thomas Paine writes Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death....
The Crisis
What does Paine mean when he writes, "what we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly"?
This quote comes from the first of Paine's "Crisis" pamphlets, written in December of 1776 as the Americans fought the British for independence. It was meant to inspire people and shore up the...
The Crisis
In The Crisis, what does Thomas Paine mean when he states, "I cannot see on what grounds the K\king of Britain can...
When Thomas Paine wrote the quote that you have presented here, he meant that the King of England did not have the moral high ground in the dispute with the colonists. He meant that there was,...
The Crisis
In The Crisis, what reasons does Paine give for his confidence that God will favor the Americans and not the British?
I assume that you are asking about the first pamphlet in the series The Crisis. I make this assumption because it is the best-known of the pamphlets and because, in this pamphlet, Paine does...
The Crisis
What metaphors does Paine use to persuade his readers to support the revolutionary war?
My favorite metaphor from Paine's The Crisis is his reference to Joan of Arc. It reads: All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a...
The Crisis
What does Thomas Paine say will happen if people do not support the fight against the British in "The Crisis?"
Paine says that during the retreat over the Delaware, the Continental troops desperately hoped for help from people in the countryside: All their wishes centered in one, which was, that the...
The Crisis
Which of the following passages from The Crisis, no. 1, introduces an anecdote (a small story relevant to the work)...
Of the lines provided on your list, the one that seems almost certainly to introduce an anecdote is option "b." However, because the information provided is limited, option "a" might be used that...
The Crisis
How does Paine appeal to religion in the first essay of The Crisis?
Although Thomas Paine was not himself conventionally religious, he was a master persuader who knew how to use his audience's beliefs as a way to motivate them. In this essay, Paine uses religious...
The Crisis
George Washington had "Number 1" of The Crisis by Thomas Paine read aloud to his troops during battle. Why do you...
In "The Crisis No.1," Thomas Paine begins by setting the stakes of the fight for American independence. The first paragraph begins, THESE are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and...
The Crisis
Give one example of parallelism in The Crisis.
Parallelism means that one or more sentences have been constructed in grammatically similar patterns, and there are several examples of this in The Crisis. With parallelism, the way phrases,...
The Crisis
How would you explain the following quotation from "The Crisis" by Thomas Paine?: "I call not upon a few, but upon...
Thomas Paine realizes that the individual states are fiercely protective of their unique identities and are therefore reluctant to engage in any kind of common endeavor. But he also understands...
The Crisis
In The Crisis by Thomas Paine, Paine writes of how he wants future generations to view the Whigs (or patriots). Were...
Paine in his pamphlet, a stirring work of pro-Revolutionary propaganda, is unabashed in his praise for the Whigs or patriots who are fighting to free the American colonies from British rule. He...
The Crisis
Why would George Washington have had the first essay in The Crisis read to his troops?
The reason Washington would do this was to raise the morale of his soldiers. The first essay in The Crisis was dated December 23, 1776. This was one of the darkest times in the Revolutionary War....
The Crisis
According to Paine, what was the best way to defeat the British?
In "The American Crisis, Number One," published in 1776, Paine makes it clear that the best way to defeat the British is for every man who is able to take up arms and join the fight. The...
The Crisis
How Does The Use Of Language In The Declaration Of Independence By Thomas Jefferson Differ From That In The Crisis By...
There are similarities between the pamphlet Common Sense and the document known as the Declaration of Independence. Both documents called for independence from Great Britain. Common Sense was...
The Crisis
What is Thomas Paine's overall message to the troops in the field in The Crisis?
The Crisis was a series of essays by Paine intended to, in short, rally the Continental troops who had suffered a series of defeats at the hands of the British. The army seemed likely to...
The Crisis
In the first paragraph, what kind of emotional appeal (pathos) does it have?
In the first pamphlet of "The Crisis," Thomas Paine appeals to the masculine pride and patriotism of his reader. He observes that "the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis,...
The Crisis
Compare and contrast the restrained and ordered language used by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence with...
To begin, one should observe that the language used by Jefferson (and Congress, since they as a whole also contributed to the Declaration, as did Franklin and Adams individually when those two...
The Crisis
To whom is Thomas Paine speaking?
There are a number of audiences for this piece. First and foremost, Paine is addressing supporters of the war. This pamphlet was written in December of 1776, one of the lowest points of the war....
The Crisis
What were Paine's feelings about the Tories?
In both Common Sense and his Crisis series, Thomas Paine takes a particularly harsh view of the Loyalist, or Tory, part of the American population. Throughout his life, Paine tended to see issues...
The Crisis
What is Thomas Paine saying in The American Crisis?
Paine published The American Crisis No. 1, by far the most famous of the pamphlet series, in December of 1776, a time in which American fortunes in the Revolutionary War were at a low ebb. This was...
The Crisis
Why does Thomas Paine state the words of the British directly?
In "The Crisis," Paine directly quotes, or really paraphrases, from the Declaratory Act—passed by Parliament in 1766—when he writes, Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that...
The Crisis
What was Paine's overall purpose in aiming The Crisis at the intended audience?
Regrettably, I had to pare down the question. When you post eight different questions in one, I would only advise you to repost some of the questions so that can get what it is that you need. In...
The Crisis
What does Paine mean when he says in The Crisis that "these are the times that try men's souls?"
When Paine says this, he means that the time he was in (the second winter of the Revolutionary War) was a very difficult time. In this context, to "try" means to "test." Paine is saying that...
The Crisis
What "program for action" did Paine put forward in "The Crisis," p. 142?
In your message to me, you said that this question refers to the article written in December of 1776. In this article, the main "program for action" (these words aren't actually used) is for all...
The Crisis
What is the analogy in the last paragraph of The Crisis? Explain the analogy and describe what it implies about...
In the last paragraph of The Crisis, vol. 1, Paine uses an analogy or comparison when he describes submitting to the British army as embracing "slavery without hope." He goes on to envision the...
The Crisis
What is A Owen Aldridge's opinion of Thomas Paine's The Crisis in his article?
Aldridge writes about how Paine's work is regarded as a political treatise, but actually reads more of exhortations with a "cheerful gloom" tone. Aldridge analyzes the impact that Paine's work...
The Crisis
How does Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine pesuade us in the stories The decleration of independence and the crisis.
Both works prove to be persuasive because of the cases made for revolution and the need for change. Jefferson's document argues that there is a natural call for separation from England because of...
The Crisis
What is a detailed summary of what is being said in Thomas Paine's "The Crisis?"
Please see the following link for the answer to this question: http://www.enotes.com/history/q-and-a/what-thomas-paine-motivation-expression-saying-246503
The Crisis
What is the historical context of The Crisis?
The Crisis (sometimes called The American Crisis) was a series of pamphlets published by Thomas Paine between 1776 and 1783. Paine published sixteen of these pamphlets in total, thirteen of which...
The Crisis
At the end of "The Crisis," what two qualities does Paine say American troops need to win the war?
The first essay in the Crisis series was released as a pamphlet on December 19, 1776. Thomas Paine intended to encourage both the revolutionary troops who were fighting under General Washington and...
The Crisis
How is Paine able to use his personal experience in the army to help make his case in The Crisis?
Paine's experience as an officer in the army allowed to give credence and credibility to his writing. Through his experience in the army, he was able to listen to the narratives of those around...