Why the Use of Rhetorical Questions Is an Iffier Tactic Than You Think

[dr_pretentious]

It's not that I wish I were still teaching freshman comp. I just wish I could send this stunning example of Rhetoric Gone Wrong back in time to myself, so that I could use it with my undergrads. The kids I teach now are young enough, I can't use an example like this in any way, for any purpose, without stepping on their parents' toes. It's amazing how early the astute kids start using rhetorical questions in their writing.

From this article, I excerpt the following:

Rep. D.J. Bettencourt, a Salem Republican, tried unsuccessfully to bar women under 18 from obtaining the drug without a prescription.

"Would you want your 12-, 13-, 14-, 15-year-old daughters getting emergency contraception as easily as they can get Advil?" he said.

To which the very obvious answer is, yes. Duh. If I had a 12-year-old daughter, and she had occasion to use emergency contraception, I would fervently hope she would be able to get what she needed without delay or hassle. What kind of sadistic, fanatical, idiotic parent would prefer that his 12-year-old daughter carry to term a pregnancy she didn't want?

Open Memorandum to the Hon. Rep. Bettencourt:
When using rhetorical questions, it's advisable to load them with inflammatory modifiers, lest the reader think for herself.

Comments

Re: sweep, sweep

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call that free love. I wouldn't even assume it involved consent. In the scenario you describe, the girl's parents are pimping her out to pay for yardwork to whichever males they like. Okay, my interpretation is a redaction of a redaction, but by law daughters were their fathers' chattel, to be dealt with as their fathers pleased until they were married off and became their husbands' chattel. The literature of the time is full of husbands pimping their wives against the wives' will, with full approval of the law--in colonial cities, it wasn't an infrequent occurrence. This sounds like a minor variation on the same deal.