RHETORICAL DEVICES

OBJECTIVES

• I can name some rhetorical devices (hyperbole, rhetorical questions,

imperatives, emotive language)
• I can describe how at least one rhetorical device can be used in non-fiction
texts
 WHAT ARE RHETORICAL QUESTIONS?

• A rhetorical question is a question that does NOT need to be answered

• We use rhetorical questions when the answer is obvious.
• E.g., Do you want extra homework?
• We also use rhetorical questions to make people think about something that might not
have thought about yet
• E.g., What would happen to us if we didn’t have doctors?
• We also use rhetorical questions when people ask a question and then answer it straight
away (a bit like talking to themselves)
• E.g., Is chocolate good for you? No it isn’t, but we all need something as a treat
sometimes.”
 HOW TO TELL IF A QUESTION IS
RHETORICAL
Think: does the person asking the question really want to know some new
information from me?
If the answer is no, it is probably a rhetorical question.
• Spot the difference:
• Do you want sugar in your coffee?
• Are they ever going to get here?
• What’s the price of this T-shirt?
• Really, you’re crying about it?
• Are you two years old or something?
• Are you hungry?
 HYPERBOLE

• Hyberbole is also known as extreme exaggeration, it is used to place emphasis

on certain aspects of the text
• One common example of this device is ‘It’s raining cats and dogs’ – when it is
raining heavily