Erotema (e-ro-tem’-a): The rhetorical question. To affirm or deny a point strongly by asking it as a question. Generally, as Melanchthon has noted, the rhetorical question includes an emotional dimension, expressing wonder, indignation, sarcasm, etc.
Improve the safety standards for offshore drilling? Take the caps off of fines and damages in order to compensate for future catastrophes? Do these measures really get to the heart of the problem? Wouldn’t it be better to ban offshore drilling altogether as an incentive to develop cleaner energy sources? Why not turn the offshore oil rigs into wind farms?
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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu)
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