Read this description of phippsburg from Lizzie Bright and the buckminster boy

the description is implying that the town is small

hope this helps

Explanation:

So [Turner] went on toward the sea. He passed the yellow-shuttered house, half wishing that Mrs. Hurd were on the porch. He passed the picket fence of Mrs. Cobb's, steering as clear of it as if it were the wall of Jericho about to fall. He kept his face to the sea breeze as the line of white houses at the end of Parker Head sputtered, revived in a solid row, and finally gave out and let the road twist by itself up into cedars. Turner held himself to a slow walk, his hands politely out of his pockets. (Who knew if Mrs. Cobb might still be watching him from some murky spot where dark things lurked?) But as he climbed into the thicket of trees and the air grew cooler, and as the road thinned to a path, and as the cedars gave way to birches, then aspens, then pines, Turner felt as though he were taking off the black robes that enveloped his father. What aspect of Phippsburg contributes to Turner’s internal conflict at this point in the story? The town is very small, and everybody can observe and comment on what Turner is doing. The town is built by the sea, and Turner is afraid of one day being unexpectedly swept away by the high waves of the ocean. The town is occupied mainly by women who remind Turner of characters and places from the Bible. The town’s houses are all white and look the same, which makes the town seem boring, which makes Turner want to leave.

answer: common sense was the pamphlet that thomas paine used to convince reluctant americans to abandon the goal of reconciling with britain and to accept that independence was the only option to preserve their liberty.