Tactical or Strategical Purpose
A rhetorical question is used to generate a dramatic effect by asking a question with an obvious answer. The question assists with getting the point across by making the apparent answer prominent. This figure of speech intrigues an internal response from the audience with its blatant question. A rhetorical question is attractive to authors because it also creates sarcasm and slight humor with its dryness and transparency.
At times, rhetorical questions can sound rude or imply that the audience is unable to answer such a simple question. Although, rhetorical questions are meant to do just that, especially when used in live speeches or arguments. The lack of complexity in the question should strike the audience sharply. The evident answer should pop up in the mind of each audience member. By this answer popping up so profoundly, the audience is automatically in support of the author’s argument because they are producing the answer that the author wants to hear.
Steps for Analysis
Identify if the phrase is a rhetorical question
Is it an obvious question?
Does the question have no response following it?
Develop your internal answer to the question
Figure out if your answer supports the author’s argument or point
How does the author’s rhetorical question make you feel as a reader?
Are you more compelled to agree with the author?
Does it make the argument feel more severe?
What do you feel the author is trying to elicit by asking this rhetorical question?
Is the author trying to make their argument seem like common sense?
How does the question connect to the argument?
By using this strategy and following these steps, a reader can identify and analyze the use of a rhetorical question in a piece of writing. These questions focus on the effect that a rhetorical question has on a piece and how it directly affects the audience.
Non-Fiction Example
(Context: In 2013, Hillary Clinton testified on the events in Benghazi infront of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. During the testimony, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin asked Clinton for clarification on the event that caused the death of four Americans in Benghazi. Johnson asked whether the event sprouted from a protest or from other causes)
Kertscher, Tom. “PolitiFact - in Context: Hillary Clinton's 'What Difference Does It Make' Comment.” PolitiFact, 8 May 2013, https://www.politifact.com/article/2013/may/08/context-hillary-clintons-what-difference-does-it-m/
Accessed 31 Aug. 2022
“In 2013, in front of a Senate committee, Mrs. Clinton blunted attacks with her dramatic rhetorical question: “What difference, at this point, does it make?”
Noonan, Peggy. “Two Departures and a Grilling.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 23 Oct. 2015, https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-departures-and-a-grilling-1445557966.
Accessed 31 Aug. 2022
Analysis of Example
Former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, evidently uses a rhetorical question in her response to Senator Ron Johnson. Clinton’s question is short and tactful, though it is not followed by a response from her nor her audience. The fact that there is no answer to the question tells readers or listeners that Clinton’s statement is a rhetorical question.
By asking this question, Clinton is attempting to provoke a painfully simple response from Johnson. This simple response emphasizes her point that the cause of the Benghazi event whether it be a protest or something else, is not as important as the fact that American citizens died in a foreign land. Due to the rhetorical question, the audience may formulate their own internal answer. It will be a concise answer that avidly supports Clinton's point because her rhetorical question is beyond narrow and fishes a specific response. The audience will eventually think to themselves that the cause of the events is not as important as the result, further proving Clinton’s point. Clinton’s question also jabs at Johnson’s argument. The question’s simplicity undermines the integrity of Johnson’s point because although it is straightforward, it cannot be answered with a response that supports Johnson's argument.