Stylistic Devices – Rhetorical Question

question without a direct answer

The author / speaker raises a question, but doesn't answer it directly as he/she sees the answer (usually Yes or No) as obvious.

Rhetorical questions are used to provoke, emphasise or argue.

Examples:

When public money brings windfalls to a few, why should the state not take a share? ⁽⁶⁾
But was the best way to win them over to threaten to ignore them altogether? Like so many things this week, the adminitstration's diplomacy needs a smoother touch. ⁽⁶⁾ (Note that the sentence following the question is not an answer to it.)