What is a rhetorical question?

Answer 1

I finally understand what epiphany means!

Answer 2

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer. ("How many times do I have to tell you to stop walking into the house with mud on your shoes?").

A rhetorical question seeks to encourage reflection within the listener as to what the answer to the question (at least, the answer implied by the questioner) must be. When a speaker declaims, "How much longer must our people endure this injustice?" or "Will our company grow or shrink?", no formal answer is expected. Rather, it is a device used by the speaker to assert or deny something.

Answer 3

The rhetorical question is usually defined as any question asked for a purpose other than to obtain the information the question asks. For example, "Why are you so stupid?" is likely to be a statement regarding one's opinion of the person addressed rather than a genuine request to know. Similarly, when someone responds to a tragic event by saying, "Why me, God?!" it is more likely to be an accusation or an expression of feeling than a realistic request for information.
Apart from these more obviously rhetorical uses, the question as a grammatical form has important rhetorical dimensions. For example, the rhetorical critic may assess the effect of asking a question as a method of beginning discourse: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" says the persona of Shakespeare's 18th sonnet. This kind of rhetorical question, in which one asks the opinion of those listening, is called anacoenosis. This rhetorical question has a definite ethical dimension, since to ask in this way generally endears the speaker to the audience and so improves his or her credibility or ethos. The technical term for rhetorical questions in general is erotema.

Answer 4

If you with to check out the fuller explanations (with examples), you may find '"he King's" material at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_question

For Nana's, go to http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Figures/R/rhetorical%20questions.htm


While you're at it, here are a couple more that suggest further ways in which people use rhetorical questions (including 'deliberating with oneself')
http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsARhetoricalQuestion.htm
http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm#Rhetorical
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aporia


And if, after all that, you want some real ANSWERS (or just some fun), try "Mr. Gradgrind's Literal Answers to Rhetorical Questions"
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/gradgrind.html

For starters, here is the suggeseted response to:
"What is so rare as a day in June?"

"June having 30 days, it is clear that days in April, September, and November are precisely as "rare,"or as common, though they are slightly less common than days in January, March, May, July, August, October, and December. Days in February are the least common, of course, so it is nonsensical to consider June days as particularly rare."

Answer 5

"Rhetoric" refers to speech-making and the art of persuasive speech. Speakers use rhetorical questions for effect and to help make their argument. They KNOW the answers; they want the audience to think about those answers and agree with them.

Answer 6

A question that is asked to (infer) a point. You do not answer a rhetorical question.

Answer 7

A question not meant to be answered... er, was that a rhetorical question?

Answer 8

Will Friends Romans and Country Men Lend me your ears?

Answer 9

a question with no answer, or you're not supposed to answer.
ie. How many roads must a man walk down before he is called a man?
Answer: who knows!

Answer 10

It's a question where no answer is expected.

Answer 11

a question that doesn't call for an answer