What does Paine ask his audience to do in the first paragraph?
How do Paine's introductory words "I offer nothing more ..." connect to the idea behind the title
Common Sense?
In the first paragraph Paine tries to lure his audience in by telling them what a man is.
When he said "I offer nothing more..." he is connecting the idea behind the title common sense
by showing what he means and not adding extra points he made up in his speech. In the text it
shows us how he talks about what a man is and how a man thinks, "...that he will put on, or
rather that he will not put off, the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views
beyond the present day." He is telling us that a man thinks of the future and not just the preset
day. We also see him mention what he is offering in his speech, "simple facts, plain arguments,
and common sense." This shows us that he wasn't adding in anything extra than the truth. For
this reason, we see that he said "I offer nothing more..." since he was just going to be stating
what he knows and nothing more. As well as the fact that he was telling us its common sense
that a man should not only think about the present but also think about the future. Hence the
title of his speech being, "Common Sense".