Using questions in writing

Using questions in writing

First up: RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

Rhetorical Questions are not meant to be answered. They are meant to:

• introduce you to/ open your mind to a new topic,

• challenge you to examine new ideas, or

• inspire you to re-examine your views.

Writers & speakers ask rhetorical questions to...

• get a laugh,

• get an agreement, or to

• show you that your idea/view is absurd.

Multiple Choice

Rhetorical questions are used to...

• emphasize a point

• make readers reflect

• both!

Since engaging your audience is the main goal, how you frame the question is super important.

Multiple Choice

Rhetorical questions should have easy yes/no answers so the reader is not confused.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT always a best practice when posing (/writing) a rhetorical question?

• Make the question open-ended.

• Keep the question short.

• Make the audience feel guilt.

• Don't have an obvious answer.

Multiple Select

Read the following speech excerpt from Ronald Reagan (1980) and place a check next to each rhetorical question.

• Can anyone look at the record of this Administration and say, "Well done"?

• Can anyone compare the state of our economy when the Carter Administration took office with where we are today and say, "Keep up the good work"?

• Can anyone look at our reduced standing in the world today and say, "Let's have four more years of this"?

Now let's review HYPOPHORA.

(When you answer the question for the audience/reader.)

Multiple Choice

Why might a writer incorporate hypophora?

• To ask and answer a question that the reader might already have.

• To frustrate the reader by posing an unanswerable question.

• To prove how intelligent the writer is and how foolish the reader is.

Bill Clinton, 1992

“What is George Bush doing about our economic problems? He has raised taxes on the people driving pickup trucks and lowered taxes on the people riding in limousines.”

John F. Kennedy, 1962

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? 

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is not an example of hypophora?

• "You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory." -W. Churchill

• "But as we speak, China wants to write the rules for the world’s fastest-growing region. That would put our workers and our businesses at a disadvantage. Why would we let that happen?" -B. Obama

• "From 1980-2012, GDP continued to rise, but how much of the income growth went to the 90% of America – everyone outside the top 10% – black, white, Latino? None. Zero. Nothing. 100% of all the new income produced in this country over the past 30 years has gone to the top ten percent." -E. Warren

REVIEW!

Fill in the Blanks

In contrast to a regular question, a

is a literary technique used by writers to make a point, or for dramatic effect, as opposed to seeking an answer. They are not typically replied to and instead are often sarcastic, or used to place emphasis on a point.

Multiple Select

Select the example(s) of hypophora.

• What has the world come to?

• Should you have voted in that election? Of course!

• How long will we fight? As long as it takes!

• But is it really wrong to eat meat?