Rhetorical devices

Rhetorical questions

Rhetorical questions are frequently used in Andrea Levy’s article “This is my England”. Their purpose is to encourage the readers to reflect on Andrea Levy’s situation and on the people who challenge her right to consider herself English.

We see this technique when Levy talks about the people coming to Britain from former British colonies: “People from across the old Empire coming home to the Mother Country. After all, didn't she owe us?” (ll. 97-98). Levy uses this question to argue that the British should hold some responsibility for the colonies of their former Empire, since one of the reason people were immigrating to Britain was the lack of jobs and resources after the fall of the British Empire. Another important example can be found in the following two questions: “So what am I? Where do I fit in Britain, 2000 and beyond?” (ll. 17-18). These questions highlights Levy’s struggle to belong in her own home country. It also points to the idea that racism still exists in Britain, and that...