Rhetorical Questions
A "rhetorical question" is a question that
you ask for the purpose of keeping your audience awake. (Okay, so that
isn't a dictionary definition, but trust me, that is what rhetorical
questions are used for.)
A normal "wh-question" is: "How are we going to do it?"
A normal "yes/no question" is: "Do you want to know how we are going to do
it?"
A rhetorical question is: "We are going to do it. How? By working
together."
Now look at what we really mean with that rhetorical "how":
"We are going to do it. (Do you want to know)
how? By working together."
The sentence, "Do you want to know how?" is generally answered with a "yes"
or a "no" thus it is considered a "yes/no" question (in ASL) and so we raise
our eyebrows when asking it.
Normal "Wh-questions" use "furrowed eyebrows."
Normal "Yes/no questions" use "raised eyebrows."
Rhetorical "Wh-questions" use "raised eyebrows."
A "rhetorical question" in ASL uses the raised eyebrows (non-manual features
/ facial expressions) of a "yes/no question" because you are not actually
asking "how to do something," but rather you are asking your conversation
partner if he or she wants to know how to do something. It is a way of
getting him or her to pay attention.
Rhetorical questions in ASL tend to use a with a slight tilt of the head and
a raising of the eyebrows in combination with one of the following signs:
WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, HOW, FOR-FOR, REASON, etc.
Example of a rhetorical:
English: She passed her class! How? She paid the teacher.
ASL: "SHE PASS CLASS, HOW-(rhetorical)?
PAY TEACHER.
(The sign "HOW" in the above sentence would have raised eyebrows and a
slight tilt of the head.)
If I wanted to sign the sentence, "We have
come to school so we can improve ourselves." I would sign, "WE COME HERE,
WHY-(rhetorical)?, IMPROVE
SELF-(horizontal sweeping motion.)
(The sign "WHY" in the above sentence would have raised eyebrows and a
slight tilt of the head.)
English sentence: "We couldn't afford to
waste the ammo."
ASL sentence: Use the nonmanual marker "carelessly" while using an
instrument classifier "GUN" to demonstrate the shooting of a gun carelessly,
CAN'T, WHY-(rhetorical)?, FRUGAL
BULLETS.
(The sign "WHY" in the above sentence would have raised eyebrows and a
slight tilt of the head.)
English sentence: "We are doing to do this by
buying five houses a year."
ASL sentence: "WE ACHIEVE HOW-(rhetorical)?
BUY 5 HOUSE every-YEAR"
(The sign "HOW" in the above sentence would have raised eyebrows and a
slight tilt of the head.)
Here we see that the concept of "by" can sometimes be expressed through the
use of a rhetorical question: "HOW?" = "by."
Sample quiz questions:
1. What type
of sentence is it when you use a sign like WHEN, WHO, WHAT, WHERE,
FOR-FOR, and REASON with raised eyebrows, and may also use a slight
shake or tilt of the head?
- a. "whq"
or a "Wh"-question
- b. "q" or
a "YES/NO" question
- c. "rhq"
or a
rhetorical
question (* right answer)
- d. "if" -
a conditional sentence
2. What
is the nonmanual marker for a rhetorical question?
Answer: Raised eyebrows, and may also use a slight shake or
tilt of the head
3. What is the symbol for glossing of a rhetorical question?
Answer: The gloss for a rhetorical question is: * “rhet”
4.
Raised
eyebrows, a slight shake or tilt of the head paired with one of
these signs: WHEN, WHO, WHAT, WHERE, FOR-FOR, and REASON is probably
what type of question?
Answer: A rhetorical question