Please note, this technique is often confused with the technique of rhetorical questions.

Example

“Do steaks have a future in Australia if we ban alpine grazing?”

Effect on reader

Not all questions that appear in Language Analysis pieces are rhetorical, some are actual questions that are being posed by the writer to the reader. Genuine questions can be used for many reasons, but generally increase the engagement of the reader with the piece or issue at hand. In the above example, the question is most likely being used as a signpost for an issue that will be discussed later. They can also be used to cause the reader to pause and consider their own stance on an issue or to reinforce something that has been discussed throughout the piece.

Sometimes questions appear to be more like statements with a question mark. These can be used to reinforce information while still engaging the reader through the encouragement of a question mark to think of an answer for themselves.