Rhetorical Question
A question asked for effect rather than to elicit an answer.
A rhetorical question is asked not to elicit an answer but to make a point. 'Who could possibly disagree?' 'Is nothing sacred?' 'Are you serious?' The answer is assumed and shared; the form is doing the persuasive work.
Rhetorical questions are a staple of oratory because they involve the listener. Instead of being told what to think, the listener is invited to arrive at the conclusion themselves — which is more flattering and more persuasive.
Overused, they sound condescending: a speaker who asks one rhetorical question per paragraph is implying the listener cannot keep up. Used sparingly, they turn a paragraph into an argument.
“If you prick us, do we not bleed?”
Keep reading the glossary
The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses.
A grammatical balance of two opposed ideas — 'to be or not to be'.
The art of persuasive speaking and writing — the discipline behind every great quoted line.
Aristotle's three modes of persuasion — character, emotion, and reason.