An aporia is a figure of speech that occurs when a speaker expresses doubt about his or her position or asks the audience rhetorically how he or she should proceed. Such doubt is often feigned.

Examples:

• What examples could I possibly use?
• How could I begin to describe the beauty of the desert?

It can also be used as a term to describe an impasse or insoluable contradiction in a text.

Plural is aporiae.

See Also

• Figure of Speech
• Rhetorical question