Re: Does a rhetorical question need a '?'

["Chris Christner" <cchris -at- toptechwriter -dot- us>]

Hi Johan,

I'm late in reading this thread, but I wanted to suggest that it's a
mistake to use rhetorical questions when you're trying to explain
something.  They make for good flourishes, but they're not supposed to be
answered, which means your audience must already have enough knowledge
about the subject to know you're not really asking a question. But in the
case where you're explaining a subject, a reader wouldn't be able to make
the distinction until he'd finished reading the full explanation!
Actually, you made this point yourself in the last 'graph of your message
;)

I'd recast the text in this way:

"Physical access controls are the first line of defense. If all someone
has to do is walk into a company's building and steal an entire server, he
won't bother hacking into the firewall and authentication systems!
Physical access controls should be in place to controlling access to
office buildings and other facilities, the rooms in it, as well as the
hardware, network media, and data storage media."

Hope this helps,
Chris
___________________________________________
TopTechWriter.US
http://www.toptechwriter.us
Award-winning technical writing and illustration services.

Johan wrote:
> I stumbled on something that made me think and eventually doubt. Is a
> question mark required in my rhetorical question below. The text is just a
> draft btw...
> 
> "Physical access controls are the first line of defense. Why would a hacker
> try to penetrate a firewall and crack authentication systems while he can
> just walk into the company's building and steal an entire server instead.
> Physical access controls should be in place to controlling access to office
> buildings and other facilities, the rooms in it, as well as the hardware,
> network media, and data storage media."
> 
> It's for an educational breakdown of certain common terms related to
> physical security. I don't want to use actually questions as I think it's
> sloppy/lazy writing to ask a questions just for the sake of being able to
> provide an answer. In this case, the answer is not provided because it is or
> will become obvious from the remaining text in the chapter. Word wants me to
> put a '?' after 'instead', but I don't want a ? in my text. Can I leave it
> out and consider it a style issue instead of a grammar/spelling error?

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