Have you ever listened to a speaker or read an essay where they ask a question and then immediately answer it themselves? This is a figure of speech called hypophora.
It is meant to catch your audience’s attention, push the discussion into a new direction, or suggest a question that may not yet have been asked or thought of.
What is Hypophora?
Hypophora is a technique where you ask a question and immediately answer it. It is also called anthypophora, antipophora, and ratiocinatio.
This figure of speech usually takes the form of a single question being answered by either a single sentence or with an entire paragraph or section. It can also be a series of questions that are answered in subsequent paragraphs.
It is sometimes considered a type of rhetorical answer though some scholars consider the two as separate. A rhetorical question doesn’t need an answer as the writer doesn’t actually require one or the answer is already known. A hypophorical question is asked specifically so that question can be answered.
Hypophorical questions are technically split into two parts. Hypophora is the question; anthyphophora is the answer. However, modern linguistics has come to use hypophora to refer to the whole thing.
Examples on Screen and Paper
Here are examples of hypophora, used in books, plays, movies, and more.
1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
“After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
2. Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare
What is honor? A word. What is in that word ‘honor’? What is that ‘honor’? Air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died o’ Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. ‘Tis insensible, then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore, I’ll none of it. Honor is a mere scutcheon. And so ends my catechism.
3. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
“Thirty-one cakes, dampened with whiskey, bask on window sills and shelves.
Who are they for?
Friends. Not necessarily neighbor friends: indeed, the larger share is intended for persons we’ve met maybe once, perhaps not at all. People who’ve struck our fancy. Like President Roosevelt…”
4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Why candles?” objected Daisy, frowning. She snapped them out with her fingers. “In two weeks it’ll be the longest day in the year.” She looked at us all radiantly. “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.”
5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
And how’d you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers! By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.”
6. The Dark Knight
“Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it.”
Examples in Real Life
Here are some examples of hypophora, used by famous people to catch people’s attention and give their words more depth.
7. I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King, Jr.
“There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”
8. We Choose to Go to the Moon, John F. Kennedy
“But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
9. I Shall Go to Korea, Dwight D. Eisenhower
“When the enemy struck on that June day of 1950, what did America do? It did what it always has done in all its times of peril. It appealed to the heroism of its youth.”
10. 1970 commencement address, Ogden Nash
“How are we to survive? Solemnity is not the answer, any more than witless and irresponsible frivolity is. I think our best chance lies in humor, which in this case means a wry acceptance of our predicament. We don’t have to like it but we can at least recognize its ridiculous aspects, one of which is ourselves.”
11. Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, Winston Churchill
“You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.
The Functions of Hypophora
Hypophora is a guaranteed way to catch your audience’s attention. You give them something to think about and immediately satisfy their curiosity.
You can also use it to emphasize key points. By framing them into questions, you’re giving yourself a chance to reiterate these key points or explain them in another way without making them too repetitive. This is also a way to provide clarity on complex topics.
Hypophora is also excellent in addressing potential objections. By answering them upfront, you’re able to provide a stronger argument while also decreasing the possibility of any pushback.
And lastly, hypophora brings a sense of engagement. By asking a question, you’re inviting them into the conversation, even if you intend to answer it in the first place. This builds rapport and helps you connect with your audience more meaningfully.
What do you think about hypophora? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- Paralipsis: How To Emphasize An Idea By Deliberately Denying It
- Litotes: How Negative Words are Used to Express the Opposite
- What Is Tmesis? How Splitting Words Can Create Emphasis
- Polysyndeton: Definition and Examples
Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!
