Rhetorical Questions as Persuasion

Analyze how rhetorical questions guide an audience toward a conclusion.

A rhetorical question persuades by making the audience supply the answer, which can feel more convincing than being told. Writers use them to frame an issue, to expose an inconsistency, or to engage readers directly. Consider an original example from an editorial: 'If we would never accept a bridge that was safe only most of the time, why do we accept a water system that is clean only most of the time? ' The question builds an analogy and invites the reader to notice an inconsistency without the writer having to assert it bluntly.

Rhetorical questions can also be loaded, assuming the very point in dispute: 'Why do these officials keep ignoring the public? ' presumes they are ignoring the public. When analyzing, identify the answer the question expects, consider whether that answer is truly obvious, and ask whether the question hides a contestable assumption. A well-crafted rhetorical question is persuasive; a loaded one may substitute insinuation for evidence.

• 1Rhetorical questions make the audience supply the answer.
• 2They can frame issues or expose inconsistencies.
• 3Loaded questions hide contestable assumptions.