Excerpt from crisis no. 1
thomas paine

these are the times that try men’s souls: the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and of man and woman. tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the , with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but ‘to bind us in all cases whatsoever,’ and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. even the expression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to god.

the author's purpose in writing this passage is
a) to narrate a story
b) to explain a process
c) to describe an event
d) to energize a reader