Question

Read the following passage from "Resistance to Civil Government" by Henry David Thoreau:

Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislation? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.

How does Thoreau use a rhetorical question in this passage?
A. To ask the reader to choose between two impossible options
B. To probe why people in general have a conscience
C. To encourage the reader to research a sensible answer
D. To prompt the reader to provide an obvious answer

Answer 1

Answer: D. To prompt the reader to provide an obvious answer.

In this passage, Thoreau asks a rhetorical question to his audience. However, he does not expect a complex, well-thought answer. The purpose of the question is to force the audience to give an obvious answer: that men should always follow their conscience. By forcing them to accept this obvious fact, his argument gains strength. He can then successfully argue that men should not be forced to follow the laws that go against their conscience.

Answer 2

The way in which Thoreau uses a rhetorical question in this passage is:

• D. To prompt the reader to provide an obvious answer

What is Rhetorical Question?

This refers to the literary technique where a person asks a question that does not have an answer, usually for dramatic purposes.

With this in mind, we can see that Henry David Thoreau was making use of rhetorical question to show that show that man does not need to be obedient to an unjust government.

Read more about rhetorical question here:
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