1. At the opening to Common Sense, Paine tells us that he has "studiously avoided everything that is personal among ourselves. Compliments as well as censure to individuals make no part thereof." Describe the advantages and disadvantages of adopting that strategy in 1776. Describe moments in which American leaders have adopted a similar strategy.
2. At what points in Common Sense do Paine's views of America echo Crèvecoeur's? For example, how does Paine see the American wilderness and its pattern of settlement as an advantage not only in dealing with this crisis but in creating a new and viable nation?
3. Comment on the "common sense" of the paragraph that begins "But, admitting that we are all of English descent, what does it amount to?" Compare Paine's reasoning here to his thinking in other passages in Common Sense.
4. Although Paine is very much an Enlightenment writer, does his prose echo any values or aspirations that you saw expressed in seventeenth-century writers? Are there any connections between the New England Puritan tradition and Paine's writing in Common Sense?