Hypophora is a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer poses a question and then immediately provides the answer. Parameters: (1) a question is explicitly stated; (2) the answer follows without pause or delay; (3) the question-answer pair serves to steer an audience through argumentation, surface an objection, and resolve it in the speaker's favor. Persistence mechanism: transmitted through rhetorical training, preserved in handbooks of discourse from antiquity through modern composition pedagogy, and sustained by repeated use in speeches, essays, and debate. [formal: hypophora | substrate: behavior | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
hypophora
Hypophora is a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer poses a question and then immediately provides the answer. Parameters: (1) a question is explicitly stated; (2) the answer follows without pause or delay; (3) the question-answe…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer raises a question and then immediately answers it, used to guide an audience through argumentation and preempt objections
Names and aliases
- hypophoraen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrtfjde400049zhnv4xb5z4fINSTANCE_OF →
Hypophora (asking a question and immediately answering it) IS a specific kind of figure-of-speech. A competent speaker would call hypophora 'a figure of speech.' Nearest kind: figure-of-speech (not rhetorical-device, which is a higher-level category that contains figures-of-speech as a subclass). Sense pinned: hypophora as a named rhetorical figure of language, consistent with the sense used for accepted edges zeugma→figure-of-speech and hendiadys→figure-of-speech.
- cmrmuk5tl01n1d1nllgxavhaeSERVES →
Hypophora — asking a question and immediately answering it — is built and maintained for the sake of persuasion. Its designed purpose in rhetoric is to engage the audience, anticipate objections, and strengthen argumentative impact. Law 8d: the servant (hypophora) points at the master (persuasion). Note pins the sense: hypophora as a persuasive rhetorical technique.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 24, 2026, 12:10 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 6e7f2308ec072af549da1ac0614000f1de6957df763278cb38acfa55df384295