Definitions and Examples of Anthypophora in Rhetoric

Definitions and Examples of Anthypophora in Rhetoric Definition Anthypophora is a  rhetorical term for the practice of asking oneself a question and then immediately answering it. Also called (or at least closely related to) the  figure of response (Puttenham) and  hypophora. The relationship between anthypophora and hypophora is confusing, says Gregory Howard. Hypophora is seen as the statement or question. Anthypophora as the immediate reply (Dictionary Of Rhetorical Terms, 2010). In Dictionary of Poetic Terms (2003), Jack Myers and Don Charles Wukasch define anthypophora as a figure of argumentation in which the speaker acts as his own foil by arguing with himself. In Garners Modern American Usage (2009), Bryan A. Garner defines anthypophora as a rhetorical tactic of refuting an objection with a contrary inference or allegation. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: ErotesisFigurative LanguageRhetoricRhetorical QuestionTwelve Types of Questions in Casablanca EtymologyFrom the Greek, against allegation Examples and Observations What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage!(The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, 1939)Is our species crazy?Plenty of evidence.(Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammlers Planet. Viking Press, 1970)In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.(Orson Welles as Harry Lime in The Third Man, 1949) Sir Winston Churchills Use of AnthypophoraYou ask, what is our policy? I will say it is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalog of human crime. That is our policy.You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory, however long and hard the r oad may be, for without victory, there is no survival.(Winston Churchill, address to Parliament, May 13, 1940) President Barack Obamas Use of AnthypophoraThis is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we’re meeting our obligations?Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return?Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer’s no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change.(U.S. President Barack Obama, speech at a memorial service in Newtown, Connectic ut, on December 16, 2012, two days after the massacre of 26 children and adults in an elementary school) Governor Andrew Cuomos Use of AnthypophoraDuring his two years in office, [New York Governor Andrew] Cuomo has developed a habit of answering reporters queries by asking his own questions. He sometimes engages in a lengthy back-and-forth, asking four or five questions and replying in a single response.For instance, at a news conference in October, Mr. Cuomo was asked about the plight of financially strapped upstate cities. The Democratic governor reframed the question to show how he had set a budgetary example that others could follow.The days of wine and roses are over? No, Mr. Cuomo said about upstate cities before a segue into his own accomplishments. Can you close a $10 billion deficit? Yes. Does the place operate? I think better than before. Did the walls crumble? No. Was it hard? Yes. Was it unsettling? Yes. But did we do it? Yes. I think you can bring costs in line with revenue.It was an expansive example of Mr. Cuomos frequent Socratic soliloquies, which he has employed to m ake points on issues ranging from overhauling Medicaid to changing how teacher performance is judged to passing new gun-control laws. Sometimes they take the form of question-and-answer sessions, while other times Mr. Cuomo holds a mock debate, taking both sides of an issue.It is a classic rhetorical tactic known as anthypophora, a device found in Shakespeare, the Bible and the speeches of former presidents, linguistic scholars say. . . .Philip Dalton, an assistant political communications professor at Hofstra University, called Mr. Cuomos approach smart rhetorically. Sometimes questions are posed to you with built-in assumptions that you dont want to affirm by answering them, Prof. Dalton said. You can bypass the whole question by asking the question yourself, and it allows you to frame the answer in way thats advantageous to yourself.(Laura Nahmias, Got Questions for Cuomo? So Does He. The Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2013) Falstaffs Use of AnthypophoraWhat is honor? A word. What is in that word honor? What is that honor? Air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died o’ Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. ‘Tis insensible, then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore, I’ll none of it. Honor is a mere scutcheon. And so ends my catechism.(Falstaff in Act V, scene 1 of Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare) Guillaume Budà © in Defense of AnthypophoraAnother most unfair attack I had almost forgotten to mention: in quoting the words of my letter, you make out that I put you say in the present tense instead of you will say, as though I had actually invented words from some earlier letter of yours. This is what you complain of, although in fact I was using the figure anthypophora, maintaining not that you did but that you might have said so; for everywhere in my draft it has the future tense you will s ay. So you have begun to attack me not merely with rhetorical subtleties, as your custom was, but with fabrications.(Letter from Guillaume Budà © to Desiderius Erasmus, 1519. Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters 842-992, 1518-1519. University of Toronto Press, 1982) The Lighter Side of AnthypophoraDo I get annoyed when people ask themselves their own questions and answer them (rendering the interviewer irrelevant)? Yes I do. Should we allow this virus in the paper? No we shouldnt.(Kevin Mitchell, quoted by David Marsh and Amelia Hodsdon in Guardian Style, 3rd ed. Guardian Books, 2010) Pronunciation: ant-hi-POF-era or an-thi-PO-for-a