Tactical or Strategical Purpose
The main goal when using hypophora is to spike the reader’s attention with a question as its answer is being formed in the next section of the piece. It gives the audience a feel of sharing a dialogue with the author. Hypophora can also be used to steer the conversation in a different direction that the readers may not be familiar with. Hypophora emphasizes the author’s assertion because the author is confidently answering a question and making their point when using this device. It may also prompt readers to ask questions they already have and would want to have answered.
Steps for Analysis
Identify a rhetorical question asked in the text
Consider the question, is the question being fully answered?
Examine the question, is the topic being changed?
Does the author's assertion solidify their question?
Non-Fiction Example
"When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.
"Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream." AmericanRhetoric.com, www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm. Accessed 6 Sept. 2022.
Analysis of Non-Fiction Prose
In Martin Luther King Jr. 's “I Have a Dream”, he uses hypophora when talking about the segregation that Black people in America were facing. Dr.King’s use of hypophora begins with the statement of a rhetorical question. The question is immediately followed by an answer, making it a hypophora. In this, he uses the word “We.” The use of “we” implies that when Dr.King is responding to the question, he is referring to the black people of America whom he is directing his question towards. He is also including himself in the party of Black Americans with the use of “we.”
Furthermore, the hypophora creates an imaginary scenario of the audience engaging in dialogue with the speaker with the question and answer sequence. With these elements, Dr.King succeeds at incorporating the audience in his speech by using hypophora and then using the word “we” in the hypophora. All of these elements allow for a more personable and compelling speech that is being provided by Dr.King. Making the speech feel personal to the audience creates a stronger argument. The appeal to pathos comes from the fact that the speech feels personal, which inclines the audience to support Dr. King’s point of view.
Giselle Pfeifer and Abbie Thompson