Read the passage.
In 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were convicted of killing a fourteen-year-old neighbor boy. Leopold and Loeb were in their late teens, came from wealthy families, and attended college. They wanted to commit the “perfect crime.” Attorney Clarence Darrow, a lifetime opponent of the death penalty, was their defense attorney.
excerpt from Clarence Darrow’s closing argument in Illinois v. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, August 22–25, 1924
And then came the planning for this crime. Murder was the least part of it; to kidnap and get the money, and kill in connection with it; that was the childish scheme growing up in these childish minds. And they had it in mind for five or six months, planning what? Planning where every step was foolish and childish, acts that could have been planned in an hour or a day; planning this, and then planning that, changing this and changing that; the weird actions of two mad brains.
Question
How does the use of hypophora in this excerpt advance the speaker's viewpoint?
Responses
It shows that the speaker wants to be merciful toward the criminal.
It emphasizes the speaker's opinion that the boys poorly planned the crime.
It shows the audience that the speaker has been unbiased in forming his opinion.
It presents the speaker's opinion as one of several possibilities.
The correct answer is: It emphasizes the speaker's opinion that the boys poorly planned the crime.
Hypophora is a rhetorical device in which the speaker asks a question and then immediately answers it. In this excerpt, Clarence Darrow uses hypophora to emphasize his opinion that Leopold and Loeb poorly planned the crime. He asks rhetorical questions about the planning and actions of the boys, then goes on to provide his own judgement of their actions as foolish and childish. This use of hypophora helps to strengthen the speaker's viewpoint that the boys were not capable of executing a well-thought-out crime.