Paine published Age of Reason in three parts in 1794, 1795, & 1807. How might the social and political climate in America change to allow a book of this nature to become an American bestseller?

The Age of Reason is a book written by the American philosopher Thomas Paine between the years 1794, 1795 and 1807. In this, Paine makes a criticism of the religious system inserted in America, affirming that the Bible as the governing book of social morality and the behavior of the individuals was not infallible, but contained errors of interpretation and contradictions; and categorizes as negative the presence of religion in political and governmental institutions, defending political secularism.

For American society to accept (not without controversy) the postulates of this book, the events of the American Revolution in the 1770s and 1780s had to pass. This revolution of liberal ideology was the one that put in check the political absolutism, the Anglican religious presence and other conservative postulates in America. If this revolution had not taken place, the Age of Reason would most likely not have been well received by the American population.

in the short story the slip-over sweater by jesse stuart, the main character and narrator shan is friends with grace, an intelligent girl he has known since childhood and with whom he used to be in love.

at the beginning of the story, shan believes he’s no longer in love with grace, but loves jo-anne instead. in order to buy a slip-over sweater and have jo-anne wear it so that the other students would know she loved him too, shan takes a loan at the bank.

while jo-anne is wearing shan’s sweater, his friend grace starts to wear another popular boy’s one, roy’s sweater. because of that, the other students begin to pay attention to grace and compliment her perseverance and effort. they admire her for walking 5 miles to school every day, despite the weather, and still getting the best grades. shan, who knows all of that for a fact, says, as the narrator, ‘and i knew she had the durability and the toughness of a storm-battered mountain oak.’ he compares his friend’s strength – not only physical, but also of character – to an oak tree, whose wood is known for being sturdy.

as the story goes on, shan changes his behavior out of concern for the debt he has to pay at the bank. his new girlfriend jo-anne never asks him what is wrong nor offers any sort of . instead, she breaks up with shan for not being as fun as she thought he was supposed to be. grace, however, not only asks about shan’s problem, but him make the money he needs. shan can’t but notice how different the girls are and what a wonderful person grace is.   even though he used to find jo-anne prettier at the beginning of the story, he now says, ‘grace was as beautiful as our mountain was in april, prettier than a blossom of wild phlox or a mountain daisy.’ his comparing grace to a mountain or something that exists on a mountain (such as a mountain oak or daisy) certainly has important meaning since shan loves the mountain and everything about it and he knows the mountain thoroughly. shan also loves and knows grace as completely as he does the mountain.

clcik edit profile or view then clcik change profile pic