A Few Rhetorical Questions--and Answers

Some of the most popular pages at About Grammar & Composition concern the figures of speech--described by Henry Peacham in 1577 as words "made new by Art, and removed from the common custom" (The Garden of Eloquence). Hundreds of these structures and strategies are defined in our Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms, and several of the most common (or commonly misunderstood) are allotted special treatment. Here are just a few of our favorites.

• What Is an Analogy?
  An analogy is a comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity. As Sigmund Freud observed, "Analogies prove nothing, that is true, but they can make one feel more at home." More . . .



• What Is Aporia?
  As defined in our glossary, aporia is a figure of speech in which the speaker expresses real or simulated doubt or perplexity. Consider these three examples of aporia--from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Samuel Beckett's novel The Unnamable, and our favorite animated father, Homer Simpson. More . . .



• What Is Irony?
  "To say one thing but mean something else"--that's the simplest definition of irony. But in truth there's nothing at all simple about this rhetorical concept. More . . .



• What Are Metaphors?
  Some people think of these figurative comparisons as nothing more than the sweet stuff of songs and poems--Love is a jewel, or a rose, or a journey. But in fact all of us speak and write and think in metaphors every day. They can't be avoided: metaphors are built right into our language. More . . .



• What Is a Rhetorical Question?
  A question is "rhetorical" if it's asked merely for effect with no answer expected. A rhetorical question may serve as a subtle way of insinuating an idea that might be challenged by an audience if asserted directly. More . . .

To learn more about figurative language, check out these articles:

• Top 20 Figures of Speech
• Twenty Rhetorical Terms That We Never Learned in School
• Tool Kit for Rhetorical Analysis