Rhetorical Questions 01

Rhetorical questions expect no answer. They are often used in articles and if you read the newspaper, you'll see them a lot. Use them to grab and hold your readers' attention as you write.

Rhetorical questions are used so frequently that it is easy not to notice them at all. But in many cases, the concept has had to be explained in childhood. For example, a teacher might say to someone whispering in class: "Do you have something you'd like to share with everybody?" Most people understand that this is a rhetorical question. The person to whom it is addressed is meant to think for a moment about the fact that they wouldn't want to tell everyone what they were whispering about and to keep quiet instead. Sometimes people don't understand the difference between rhetorical questions and questions which do expect a response. If someone were to answer the teacher's question with a yes and an explanation, the teacher is likely to explain that the question was rhetorical and what that means (on the other hand, the teacher might think the response to be not so much a misunderstanding as a deliberate attempt to sidetrack the class).

Test your knowledge of rhetorical questions in this quiz on the subject.