Unknown words can be understood through the use of a dictionary or the use of context clues. Based on this, we can describe the meaning of the words shown in the question above as follows:
- Espouse: defending, supporting something.
- Doctrine: Import a personal opinion or belief to someone.
- Precarious: something of poor quality, something that cannot sustain itself.
In the text shown above, Paine is criticizing those who supported England and felt that the American colonies should seek reconciliation with England and not independence. Therefore, he uses these words with a negative meaning, to expose this type of thinking.
It is important to note that a dictionary is a book that explains the meaning of any word. While context clues are devices that allow a person to understand the meaning of unknown words, from the context of the sentence.
An example of a context clue can be seen in the word "precariousness" shown in the text above. The sentence where this word is presented shows bad and dangerous things and therefore the reader can understand that this word has this same nature.
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