tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post901933629472872960..comments2023-12-23T04:56:29.702-05:00Comments on Ferule & Fescue: Rhetorical questions: who needs 'em?Flaviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-31762099848388387162011-01-31T08:19:15.299-05:002011-01-31T08:19:15.299-05:00I actually like rhetorical questions, IF used ligh...I actually like rhetorical questions, IF used lightly and not in place of an actual claim. I find them more a useful way of varying transitions in an argument that requires many steps that build on one another: instead of, "next you need to know x, next you need to know y," the reader gets an occasional, "at this point, we've got to ask: what about z?" (Then proceed to talk about z). It sounds like that is what your book was doing, if they were at the start of paragraphs.<br /><br />But then, maybe this is why so many people find my prose annoying.Liza Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05105726464955172469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-77959818207622254882011-01-27T18:30:50.840-05:002011-01-27T18:30:50.840-05:00Veralinda:
Well, all verbal tics are annoying. I&...Veralinda:<br /><br />Well, all verbal tics are annoying. I'm sure I don't notice the very occasional rhetorical question, especially when well-done (and/or I may just have a personal antipathy toward them, based on the fact that when <i>I</i> use them, they're always bullshitty.) <br /><br />But this book had a rhetorical question--pretty much invariably as a paragraph opener--every few pages. It was hard to read the book without hearing the sentences in a young, uncertain female voice ("I'm going to the store? After school? To buy stuff for this weekend?")Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-66668976247585314102011-01-27T17:41:09.522-05:002011-01-27T17:41:09.522-05:00Crap. Well now I feel rather lame. As a reader, I ...Crap. Well now I feel rather lame. As a reader, I actually *enjoy* the occasional rhetorical question--it draws me in and can be generative (hmm! is it x or y?). As long as the author makes their claims clear, I don't have a problem with it, and if nothing else, a little syntactical variety is refreshing. But now that I know how others feel, I'll be very judicious in using them in my own writing! Or should I?Veralindanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-15286213286698713252011-01-27T16:46:41.793-05:002011-01-27T16:46:41.793-05:00War: What is it good for?War: What is it good for?scrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-64697243751709067242011-01-27T09:15:24.804-05:002011-01-27T09:15:24.804-05:00Well, what exactly qualifies a question as rhetori...Well, what exactly qualifies a question as rhetorical in nature?Dr. Kosharyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777054788430587906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-71967892277209702842011-01-27T01:11:57.252-05:002011-01-27T01:11:57.252-05:00Shane: okay, you win. Or lose. Whichever.Shane: okay, you win. Or lose. Whichever.Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-48111344917677544012011-01-27T00:01:15.452-05:002011-01-27T00:01:15.452-05:00Is there a problem with rhetorical questions?Is there a problem with rhetorical questions?Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-12659747734826901332011-01-26T18:19:53.049-05:002011-01-26T18:19:53.049-05:00Excellent advice. Although now that I read it, I ...Excellent advice. Although now that I read it, I realize that I've just sent off a precirculated conference paper that's full of 'em. <br /><br />Stupid me! But, they're indicative of my as-yet-not-made-up-mind, and I wouldn't write a book like that.Historiannhttp://historiann.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-88438994104420822662011-01-26T16:44:49.532-05:002011-01-26T16:44:49.532-05:00Is there something wrong with a direct statement? ...Is there something wrong with a direct statement? Is there?uDoctor Clevelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07326408523926507003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-49261360489589316012011-01-26T12:03:46.649-05:002011-01-26T12:03:46.649-05:00I hate them too. In student writing I point them ...I hate them too. In student writing I point them out to be exactly what you describe here: lazy substitutes for actual argumentation. From the writing perspective, I would avoid them because they make you look less authoritative, rather than more (which is, I think what the gesture is supposed to suggest)...Renaissance Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06243095907452011303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-56726882584887067052011-01-26T10:40:46.557-05:002011-01-26T10:40:46.557-05:00I'm in the middle of a book whose author has a...I'm in the middle of a book whose author has a deep love of chiasmus. Every chapter has eight or ten sentences like this: "It was a moment of arrest, and an arrested moment." I don't even know what that means, and the verbal tic gets very old very quickly.Shane in Utahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-50008054933157924242011-01-26T08:40:04.452-05:002011-01-26T08:40:04.452-05:00Good point. My dissertation is now filled with tho...Good point. My dissertation is now filled with those as place-holders for which questions I'll be answering where. In a few months I'd better edit them out...Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-1194184801510887302011-01-26T00:17:34.390-05:002011-01-26T00:17:34.390-05:00Anthea: I think they do work much better in oral p...Anthea: I think they do work much better in oral presentations (though even then they should be used judiciously). I'm also a fan of using them in abstracts for yet-to-be-written papers (I don't know what the answers are yet, but boy: aren't these interesting questions!).<br /><br />But they're very rarely necessary in written work, unless as a deliberate stylistic effect: "Why don't I shut the hell up? I'll tell you why I don't shut up!".Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-90519980860184749672011-01-26T00:06:23.747-05:002011-01-26T00:06:23.747-05:00Mmmmm...I think that rhetorical questions are a go...Mmmmm...I think that rhetorical questions are a good idea but they shouldn't be splattered everywhere. They should be used carefully and I think that they only realy truely work if they're use in a presentation rather than a publication.Antheahttp://www.senseworlds.com/bewildernessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-14551990139876540792011-01-25T23:06:28.829-05:002011-01-25T23:06:28.829-05:00Yes. Thank you. I hate the stupid things.Yes. Thank you. I hate the stupid things.Davenoreply@blogger.com