Why do Cambridge and writers love rhetorical questions?

Rhetorical questions are loved by everyone – writers, teachers and Cambridge examiners. too! Why is this the case?

Just what are rhetorical questions?

If we look up rhetorical question in the Cambridge Dictionary, we get this explanation:

So, they are questions, but don’t expect the reader or listener to answer.

What does the writer want to achieve by using a rhetorical question?

Rhetorical questions might be used for a number of reasons. These could be:

• to get the reader thinking about a subject, a dilemma or context. (e.g. Have you ever stopped to think about …?)
• to get a listener to do something (e.g. Wouldn’t it be better if that window was open?)
• to give a warning. (e.g. Teacher: Do you want extra homework? Do you want detention?)
• to create rapport, connection and show that you understand other people. (e.g. Is it just me, or is it hot in here?)
• to raise doubts. (e.g. How can this possibly be true?)
• to emphasize a point. (e.g. Could anyone seriously question the evidence?)
• To reinforce an obvious answer. These questions often involve an obvious fact, like Do birds fly? Is water wet? In this case, the writer or speaker obviously feels that what they have said or are going to say is unquestionable.
• to create dramatic effect. (e.g. Can you imagine what happened next?)
• to introduce a topic or start a new section/paragraph. (e.g. What about the other side of the story?)
• to persuade the reader to agree, sympathize or even make a purchase. (e.g. Who wouldn’t like to have the perfect skin?)

For these reasons (especially the final one), you will often find rhetorical questions used in adverts, documentaries, essays and speeches.

Common rhetorical questions

There are some common formats and starts to rhetorical questions, e.g.:

• Who doesn’t love/like/hate/dream of/fancy …?
• Wouldn’t it be lovely if …?
• Do you ever wonder if/dream about …?
• Does it ever cross your mind …?
• Have you ever wondered/wanted to …?
• How would you feel if …?
• Can you imagine that …?
• What if …?
• Why is it that …?
• Why would anyone even …?

There are also other rhetorical questions which are very frequent and short, e.g.:

• Guess what? (A2)
• Who knows?
• Who cares? (B2)
• How come? (C1)
• How strange is that? (C2)
• Who would have thought? (C2)

(I’ve indicated the levels that these questions are listed at on the English Profile wordlists.)

Rhetorical questions and Cambridge exams

If you pick up a Cambridge Handbook for Teachers and read the Glossary of Terms, you can read the explanation of Organisational Patterns:

Organisational patterns appear for the first time in the descriptors for Organisation in the top band – band 5 – for B2 First and B2 First for Schools. *

(*And therefore, band 3 at C1 Advanced and band 1 at C2 Proficiency).

And when we move up to C2 Proficiency, the flexible use of Organisational Patterns is crucial for success in the writing paper and achieving high marks for Organisation.

This is why training students to use rhetorical questions is an important part of preparing them to take Cambridge exams like B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency.