A rhetorical question is a powerful literary technique that lets you make a point or add a dramatic effect in an essay.
Unlike a standard question, being rhetoric doesn’t evoke direct response. Rather, it tends to be persuasive in form, and it helps an author shape the way his or her target readers look at an issue or think about a topic.
Given the diversity and flair they add in writing, and the extent to which the engage readers to consider and hypothesize what they just read, can you really use rhetorical questions in an essay or should you avoid them completely?
Can I Use Rhetorical Questions in an Essay?
It’s not advisable to use rhetorical questions in an essay. While they are perfect for helping you come to grip with the essay topic in question, they’re not useful for the person reading the essay.
You could include them in the essay as indirect questions, but the best approach is to rephrase the questions into statements or not use them at all.
To understand why teachers hate rhetorical questions in essays, it’s important to look at the difference between creative and essay writing.
Creative Writing | Essay Writing |
|---|---|
Doesn’t often analyze anything and can be read for personal pleasure | Gives information and an analysis of real life ideas |
Readers aren’t particularly looking for answers to the questions that the writer raises in their creative piece | Reader scan academic essays for answers, not questions |
You can write a creative piece in third or first person | Students should use third person pronoun when writing essays |
There’s no formal outline for creative writing. You can approach it from any angle provide you communicate your message | Essays have a formal structure (outline) that students should use when writing |
As you can see from the table above, rhetoric questions seek to spark excitement and suspense, which is the exact opposite of what academic writing is all about.
To take this even further, below are reasons why you shouldn’t use rhetorical question in academic writing.
1. Rhetorical Questions Add Unnecessary Words to an Essay
You don’t have much writing real estate when writing an essay. With a tight word count limit, rhetorical equations are an obvious waste of resources.
Again, questions don’t tell a story, describe your claim, or defend your argument in an essay. And rightly so, they tend to leave readers with more questions than answers.
2. Rhetorical Questions Introduce Redundancy
You might think for the moment that rhetorical questions are good for introducing a point. But isn’t it better to get to the point?
Besides, we don’t think that essay readers, from college admissions committee to professors who have dozens of argumentative essays to review even have the patience to read questions you present.
The issue here is rhetorical questions introduce redundancy in the essay, taking up the space that you have otherwise used to explain an idea or an issue better.
Instead of filling the essay with questions, which may leave the reader unsure, go straight to the point and make your ideas clear.
3. Rhetorical Questions Accost Readers
Academic writing isn’t your place to ask questions because they change the tone and perspective of an essay just as quickly.
They are passive in form. In other words, using them in academic writing means you’re asking your readers to do the thinking and reflection for you
When you change from answering readers’ most important questions on an issue to questioning them instead, you accost them. Readers don’t appreciate when you aggressively demand something from them.
4. Rhetorical Questions Make Lousy Assumption that a Reader Knows
While you’re welcome to use rhetorical questions in improving your creative writing, you shouldn’t do in academic writing.
Often with rhetorical questions, writers tend to assume that the audience already know the answer, which may not exactly be the case.
Since we don’t know if a reader knows the answer to a question, it’s best to express the question as a statement or else you risk being misunderstood.
Think about it:
Your instructor gave you an essay assignment because they want to see how you answer the question. In other words, they’re looking for answers, evidence, and arguments to your claim (position). They neither want to be entertained nor left in suspense.
How to Ask Rhetorical Question in an Essay?
While we generally don’t recommend using rhetoric questions in an essay, there’s one exception to this rule. You can use rhetorical questions:
In the Title of an Essay
It’s tempting to use rhetorical questions in an essay because they draw in the attention of the reader.
However, they can’t be effective in the body section of the essay, and we’ve already told you why.
So if you feel the urge to use rhetorical questions, use it as a title for the essay.
In the Introduction of an Essay
You may use it in the introduction provided you answer the question in the argument.
Notice here that you have to answer the question, not leave the reader to answer it for you.
An effective way to implement this literary device would be to ask the question in the opening paragraph and then use the thesis statement to answer the question before you get to the body part of the essay.
In Argumentative Essays
Rhetorical questions can be good for persuading a reader to think or act in a certain way. As such, you may use them in writing argumentative essays.
If used correctly, such a question can often strengthen the magnitude of a claim and solidify your position.
However, you really shouldn’t include this kind of writing in your argument or persuasive essay unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Even if you feel like the rhetorical question would sound a lot more readable or convincing, it would be best to rephrase them in complete statements.
Get Essay Writing Help
With all that said, feel free to get in touch with Help for Assessment writers if you need assistance with your essay writing.