“The American Crisis: Number 1” by Thomas Paine utilizes a very interesting way of writing. Paine is trying to persuade the nation to fight against Great Britain’s injustice. He practices many styles of writing including diction, vocabulary, sentence structure, tone, inversion, figurative language, and rhetorical strategies. Thomas Paine’s “Crisis No.1” uses tone, figurative language, and rhetorical strategies to exemplify the persuasive natures of his speech.

Thomas Paine utilizes an abound amount of figurative language in “Crisis No.1” to utilizes an intense tone to bring forth the seriousness of what he is writing about. Paine utilizes many types of figurative language in “Crisis No.1”, but the most commonly seen uses are similes. Paine practices his use of similes when he says, “My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light” (Paine 108). His utilization of similes are there to compare the importance of many situations in life. Paine’s great utilization of similes are shown all throughout “Crisis No. 1”. Another example of when Paine uses a simile is when he says, “The cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf” (Paine 109). Again, Paine utilizes similes to relate things in world and show how serious he is. Another type of figurative language Paine utilizes is personification. An example of when Paine utilizes personification is when he says, “The city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and repulse it” (Paine 108). Paine uses personification to make his writing understandable and entertaining. Overall, Paine’s utilization of figurative language heavily influences his writing in “Crisis No. 1”.

Tone is used is various ways to control the mood of the story and how the reader understands the passage. Thomas Paine’s use of tone is very authoritative. The first example of Paine’s controlling is when he says, “I call not upon a few, but upon all” (Paine 109). This shows that he has the power to choose who he wants and does what he pleases. Paine’s usage of tone is also very serious. An example of his serious tone is when he says, “America did not, nor does not want force; but she wanted a proper application of that force” (Paine 109). Paine is not the type of writer that utilizes sarcasm; he says what he needs to and gets his point across to his readers. In addition, Paine also utilizes a very demanding tone. This is shown when Paine says, “’Well! give me peace in my day’” (Paine 108). This shows that Paine requests things and expects them and doesn’t back down. Overall, Paine utilizes a very controlling tone; he is very serious in his writing and wants everyone to give me their undivided attention.

Thomas Paine utilizes the three different styles of rhetorical strategies throughout “Crisis No. 1”. Paine practices pathos to persuade his readers through emotion. Paine utilizes an appeal to emotion when he states, “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of a man and woman” (Paine 108). He uses emotion to manipulate his readers into feeling a certain way through his words. Paine also utilizes ethos to show authority of others. His use of ethos is shown when he says, “I am that God governs the world” (Paine 109). He utilizes ethos to show that he knows what he is talking about and he has reliable sources, so we can believe what he is saying. Paine also utilizes the third type of rhetorical strategy which is logos. When Paine utilizes logos it’s typically like when he says, “Say it not that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands” (Paine 110). Paine uses logos to give us information that is needed to know in order to understand the importance of a particular subject. Paine’s usage of rhetorical strategies affects how we interpret “Crisis No. 1”.

In “Crisis No. 1” Thomas Paine utilizes different elements of writing such as rhetorical strategies, sentence structure, sentence length, and tone to make it his own style. The tone of a piece of writing affects the entire paper and how someone interprets it. Sentence length and structure allows the writer to emphasize desired subjects. Writers can also make some subjects not as obvious but positioning more emphasis on other topics. Every element of literature allows a writer to have their own certain style and make themselves different from others.