Rhetorical devices

Rhetorical questions

The article “I’ve lost my conversational mojo – can I relearn the art of small talk?” by Rhik Samadder contains several rhetorical questions. Most of these are related to Samadder's social anxieties.

Both the headline and the text contain the rhetorical question "can I relearn the art of small talk?”. Samadder wonders if he can regain his ability to interact naturally with people after a long period of “social isolation” (l. 9). Readers might expect the article to provide an answer to this question, and are therefore motivated to keep reading. Especially since they may experience similar problems themselves, having just left lockdown.  

A series of rhetorical questions is presented when Samadder wonders why small...