Address & Argument
Rhetorical Question
Asking a question to make a point rather than to seek information. The context suggests an answer, though the audience may reject it.
"Hath not a Jew eyes?" — The Merchant of Venice
Don't confuse it with Aporia. Hypophora asks and then *answers its own* question; aporia performs genuine (or staged) doubt.
A similar example that does not qualify
Which shelter has a bed available tonight?
Asked by someone arranging accommodation, this seeks missing information. A question becomes rhetorical through its use and context.
Counterexample written for practice.
Compare sentences using Rhetorical Question →Examples
Must a child earn the right to be fed?
The question appeals to an assumed moral answer rather than asking for information.
Hath not a Jew eyes?
In Shylock’s appeal, the question expects acknowledgment of an evident shared human feature.
A possible effect: The implied yes presses the listener to concede common humanity before the speech’s further claims.
Practice explaining this example →Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
The speaker poses a question and immediately develops his own answer rather than seeking information.
A possible effect: The question opens a proposed comparison that the next line revises in the beloved’s favor.
Practice explaining this example →Who does not deserve a safe place to sleep?
The assertion becomes a question with an implied answer: no one.
A possible effect: The question invites the audience to supply the inclusive claim themselves.
Practice explaining this example →The witness has changed his story three times. How can we trust this account?
After citing contradictions, the speaker asks a question that implies doubt about trustworthiness.
A possible effect: The question asks the listener to draw a skeptical conclusion from the preceding evidence.
Practice explaining this example →Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as rhetorical question.
Anaphora 4 Antithesis 3 Apostrophe 3
The rest of the family
Apostrophe Invocation Aphorism Enthymeme Correctio / Epanorthosis Parrhesia Metabasis Amplificatio Aporia Enargeia / Vivid Specificity