Rhetorical Question

Rhetorical question as a figurative expression creates effect in a work of art. It lays emphasis on a subject rather than asking questions. It is used to persuade the audience in order to drive home the points of the author or speaker. A rhetorical question is a known fact to both the author/speaker and the readers/audience. Ipso facto, no one expects anyone to give an answer.

Examples:

i. Can we be in sin and say grace should abound?

ii. Are you stupid?

iii. Is Mohammad not a prophet?

iv. If we tell, gently, gently

All that we shall one day have to tell,

Who then will hear our voices without laughter,

Sad complaining voices of beggars

Who indeed will hear them without laughter? Vanity by Birago Diop.

Hypophora
There are similarities and differences between rhetorical questions and hypophoria. First, they are both literary devices. Second, they both ask questions to lay emphasis. However, hypophora provides an answer to the question asked, that is, the author or speaker will provide an answer to the question. Conversely, rhetorical questions do not provide any answer to the questions. The other names of hypophora are: antipophora and anthypophora.

Example:

“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.”

(Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage, by Kurt Vonnegut.

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