What book or story is this?
I wrote my answer on my laptop, then took a photo and attached it. Hope it helps and it is what your looking for!
<span>Thomas Paine was an English-American <u>ACTIVIST</u> who wrote pamphlets that influenced many people and were instrumental in starting the american revolution. He skillfully communicated the ideas of the revolution to everyone, from farmers to intellectuals.
Since the purpose of the paragraph is to inform the word that best fits in the blank is the word "activist," it means that this person is someone who is campaigning/informing people to bring about certain political or social changes.</span>
It more so means Phoney or inactive war. I would say literally but i guess it could be true