Writing Help 129 | - Freelance Writer
Mar 25, 2013 | #1
Using Advanced Rhetorical Devices to Surprise and Delight
Unlike many of the terms which will be presented in this series, the term rhetorical question still has a place in the modern lexicon, and most people have some idea of what the term means. A lot of comedy has been created around the term, as every sitcom produced after 1980 has at least one episode where someone answers a rhetorical question as if it were not rhetorical at all. Our everyday speech is also infused with a large number of stock rhetorical questions, and although their constant use has diminished their rhetorical strength, they nonetheless serve as good examples.
A rhetorical question is a statement which looks like a question, but which is actually designed to make a point which will be evident to the listener or reader. In other words, the form it takes is that of a question, but its meaning leaves no real room for any answer but the one the speaker intends. In the following example, we can see a series of rhetorical questions which all point to one obvious conclusion: "How can the government justify the torture of innocent animals? What moral authority do they possess that allows them to rule over the life and death of God's creatures? How stupid must they think we are to offer us money to stop the protests!" Here, it is obvious that the speaker is totally and categorically opposed to animal mistreatment. Therefore, we don't read his questions as questions, but rather as ways of stating his position. Looking at the first sentence, the way the content is presented tells us that the answer to the question has been decided long before it was asked. The words torture and innocent animals all show strong emotion, and a definite bias for the animals and against the way they are being treated. When phrased in this way, it is obvious that the government (or anyone or anything, really) could not possibly justify such actions, since they are presented in language that makes them unjustifiable. The punctuation of the third sentence in the example is also very telling; note that it ends in an exclamation point rather than a question mark, even though it is otherwise presented in the order of a question. This is acceptable, and shows how emphatic, rather than questioning, the rhetorical question can be.
In everyday life, we also have a host of rhetorical questions that we use on a daily basis. For example, if I ask someone "What is the matter with you!" I am not really expecting a response. This question is reserved for times when someone has done something especially stupid, and it has the function of accusing the person of having something wrong with them, rather than sincerely asking what specific difficulty they have. Remember, the word rhetorical in the term rhetorical question indicates that the question is being asked in order to achieve a certain effect, which is the basis of all rhetoric. I am sure many of you are asking why you wouldn't simply make the statement you want to make without using a question at all, and again this goes back to effect. Statements, especially forceful ones, are not inclusive of the listener, since they give a single viewpoint from a single source, and require no real thought to understand. If I instead use a question to make my point, or a series of questions, my tone and sentence structure immediately and automatically prompt the listeners to think more closely of what I have said, and to formulate an answer, even if the answer is evident. In this way, I am enabling them to take my own thoughts, process them, and come to the same (inevitable) conclusions I have. Also, by presenting questions in such a way that only one answer is possible, I am strongly encouraging others to think like I do, since they become immersed in the viewpoint my string of words has created. It takes far less effort to reject a view presented in a straightforward statement than to analyze the problems with a rhetorical question in order to find what underlying assumptions it employs; since there are more layers to cut through in order to see where the problems are, it is far easier and more tempting just to go along with the feeling of what is being said, which is a powerful force in the realm of persuasion.
Rhetorical Question
Unlike many of the terms which will be presented in this series, the term rhetorical question still has a place in the modern lexicon, and most people have some idea of what the term means. A lot of comedy has been created around the term, as every sitcom produced after 1980 has at least one episode where someone answers a rhetorical question as if it were not rhetorical at all. Our everyday speech is also infused with a large number of stock rhetorical questions, and although their constant use has diminished their rhetorical strength, they nonetheless serve as good examples.
A rhetorical question is a statement which looks like a question, but which is actually designed to make a point which will be evident to the listener or reader. In other words, the form it takes is that of a question, but its meaning leaves no real room for any answer but the one the speaker intends. In the following example, we can see a series of rhetorical questions which all point to one obvious conclusion: "How can the government justify the torture of innocent animals? What moral authority do they possess that allows them to rule over the life and death of God's creatures? How stupid must they think we are to offer us money to stop the protests!" Here, it is obvious that the speaker is totally and categorically opposed to animal mistreatment. Therefore, we don't read his questions as questions, but rather as ways of stating his position. Looking at the first sentence, the way the content is presented tells us that the answer to the question has been decided long before it was asked. The words torture and innocent animals all show strong emotion, and a definite bias for the animals and against the way they are being treated. When phrased in this way, it is obvious that the government (or anyone or anything, really) could not possibly justify such actions, since they are presented in language that makes them unjustifiable. The punctuation of the third sentence in the example is also very telling; note that it ends in an exclamation point rather than a question mark, even though it is otherwise presented in the order of a question. This is acceptable, and shows how emphatic, rather than questioning, the rhetorical question can be.In everyday life, we also have a host of rhetorical questions that we use on a daily basis. For example, if I ask someone "What is the matter with you!" I am not really expecting a response. This question is reserved for times when someone has done something especially stupid, and it has the function of accusing the person of having something wrong with them, rather than sincerely asking what specific difficulty they have. Remember, the word rhetorical in the term rhetorical question indicates that the question is being asked in order to achieve a certain effect, which is the basis of all rhetoric. I am sure many of you are asking why you wouldn't simply make the statement you want to make without using a question at all, and again this goes back to effect. Statements, especially forceful ones, are not inclusive of the listener, since they give a single viewpoint from a single source, and require no real thought to understand. If I instead use a question to make my point, or a series of questions, my tone and sentence structure immediately and automatically prompt the listeners to think more closely of what I have said, and to formulate an answer, even if the answer is evident. In this way, I am enabling them to take my own thoughts, process them, and come to the same (inevitable) conclusions I have. Also, by presenting questions in such a way that only one answer is possible, I am strongly encouraging others to think like I do, since they become immersed in the viewpoint my string of words has created. It takes far less effort to reject a view presented in a straightforward statement than to analyze the problems with a rhetorical question in order to find what underlying assumptions it employs; since there are more layers to cut through in order to see where the problems are, it is far easier and more tempting just to go along with the feeling of what is being said, which is a powerful force in the realm of persuasion.