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.
What? Are you kidding me? This will be the third night in a row we’ve had some kind of beans for dinner. Do you want me to blow a hole in my bedspread? Come on, why don’t we have something less volatile? How about calve’s liver and cottage cheese?
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
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