Rhetorical questionsA rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer. ("How many times do I have to tell you to stop walking into the house with mud on your shoes?").A rhetorical question seeks to encourage reflection within the listener as to what the answer to the question (at least, the answer implied by the questioner) must be. When a speaker declaims, "How much longer must our people endure this injustice?" or "Will our company grow or shrink?", no formal answer is expected. Rather, it is a device used by the speaker to assert or deny something.Examples "How can people have hope when we tell them that they have no recourse, if they run afoul of the state justice system?" Edward Kennedy, Senate debate on the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, 1968.

Some rhetorical questions become idiomatic English expressions:"What's the matter with you?” "Don't you know any better?" "Have you no shame?" "Is the Pope Catholic?" "Does a bear shit in the woods?" "Do fish swim?" "Are you crazy?" "Who cares?" “Who do I care?” "How should I know?" “Why should I?” "Are you kidding me?" "Do you expect me to do it for you?" "Do pigs fly?"

A rhetorical question typically ends in a question mark (?), but occasionally may end with an exclamation mark (!) or even a period (.) according to some writing style guides.For example: "What's the point of going on." "Isn't that ironic!"A rhetorical question implies its own answer; it’s a way of making a point.

Examples: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” “What business is it of

yours?” “How did that idiot ever get elected?” “What is so rare as a day in June?” You think I’m a fool? These aren’t questions in the usual sense, but statements in the form of a question.

Some TV shows have had rhetorical questions as titles, such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Bob Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind" contains a series of rhetorical questions. Caution: Many people mistakenly suppose that any nonsensical question, or one which cannot be answered, can be called a rhetorical question. The following are not proper rhetorical questions: “What was the best thing before sliced bread?” “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” “Who let the dogs out?”

Sometimes speakers ask questions so they can then proceed to answer them: “Do we have enough troops to win the war? It all depends on how you define victory.” The speaker is engaging in rhetoric, but the question asked is not a rhetorical question in the technical sense. Instead this is a mock-dialogue, with the speaker taking both roles.