Rhetorical question | Literary Term | English Literature | Major English | Plus Two Level
A
rhetorical question is one that is asked just for the effect. No answer is
expected since it is imbedded in the question itself. A rhetorical question may
have an obvious answer, but the questioner asks it to lay emphasis to the
point. In literature, a rhetorical question is self-evident, and used
for style as an impressive persuasive device. Broadly speaking, a
rhetorical question is asked when the questioner himself knows the answer
already, or an answer is not actually demanded. So, an answer is not expected
from the audience. Such a question is used to emphasize a point or draw
the audience’s attention.
For
example, when the poet asks, 'Did he who made the Lamb make thee?' we know that
he who made the tiger also made the lamb.
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