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.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where the hell are we going with this? I’ve been selling “Billy’s Fudgy Cakes” ever since I was 22, and now I’m 60, and I’m still selling them by the ton, literally. We all mourn Billy’s passing, Junior, and are ready to roll up our sleeves and sell Fudgy Cakes until the word smells like their secret frosting. Doesn’t it seem imprudent to make them smaller, make them vanilla, and rename them “Whitey Cakes”? Where are we headed with this? Your father’s ashes are rattling in their urn. Will your eulogy tell the story of his successful leadership, followed now, by certain disaster of your doing? How are you going to feel when we’re all desperately waiting for our meager unemployment checks?
Will you come down from cloud-cuckoo land? Will you look in the mirror and see that your life will be ruined by what you’re about to do? You say you want to take control and make your mark. The only “mark” you will make is a skid mark.
It’s not too late to change your mind. Don’t you want to continue your father’s legacy and keep Billy’s Fudgy Cakes fudgy?
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
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