A stylo-rhetoric critique of rhetorical questions in N.G. Sibiya’s selected essays in Amalangabi

Abstract

This article deals with rhetorical questions as a literary device in N.G. Sibiya’s selected essays in Amalangabi (1993). Rhetorical questions are employed for different purposes in literature, and this discourse intends to discover the rhetorical purpose they serve in Sibiya’s essays specifically. The study is motivated by the discovery that, even though rhetorical questions are used artistically in N.G. Sibiya’s essays, there seems to be no work, so far, that has been done to examine this. Since the study observes the rhetoric or stylistic use of rhetorical questions, literary stylistics is adopted as a theory to theoretically ground the analysis. Textual analysis, as a qualitative research technique, is also adopted because data is primary collected, organised, and interpreted from Sibiya’s two essays (Amalimi and Izibongo). The analysis of data will highlight how Sibiya employs rhetorical questions for different stylistic effects in his essays. This includes their emphasis and persuasive effects. It also includes their role as a channel to express strong emotions, their ability to draw readers to the problem and promote critical discussions, and their ability to challenge common assumptions and beliefs.