• What is a rhetorical question?
• Examples of rhetorical questions

We explain what a rhetorical question is, what modalities it presents, its function and various examples from everyday life.

Rhetorical questions are used in both literary and everyday language.

What is a rhetorical question?

A rhetorical question, rhetorical interrogation, or erothem is a Figure of speech which consists of asking a question for which an answer is not really expected. It is used to express a feeling, to affirm a point of view or, at most, to invite the interlocutor to reflect on a specific issue or to change their way of acting.

These types of rhetorical figures are used both in literary language and in common and everyday language. It is part of rhetorical communication, under two different modalities:

• Interrogation. When the question would admit as an answer a Yes or no only.
• Exsuscitatio. When the question would admit something much more elaborate and complex as an answer.

Examples of rhetorical questions

Rhetorical questions can invite consideration of other points of view.

Some simple examples of rhetorical questions are as follows:

• "Who do you think you're talking to?" The question does not wait for an answer, but serves to warn the interlocutor that it is better to be careful what he says, or there will be consequences.
• "How long, my God?" Again, God is not expected to respond, but feelings of boredom or despair are expressed.
• “What will happen to our heroes? Will they be able to save themselves? " In the context of a story, the narrator may use these questions to create tension in the reader (or viewer, if it is a television show), without anyone actually going to answer them.
• "Are you in the mood for a beating?" This question obviously serves to seek a fight, and serves more as a warning, than as a question itself.
• "What did I tell you?" In the middle of a conversation, this rhetorical question is intended to give the speaker a couple of seconds to reorder their ideas, since the interlocutor cannot really know what they were going to say.
• "Don't you think you could see it this other way?" This question serves to invite the interlocutor to see things from the point of view of the person asking it, since they are not really waiting for the other to answer them.
• "How is it possible?" In certain contextsThis question does not expect a literal explanation, but rather serves to express concern, discomfort, or disbelief.