“They who are demanded by others, instantly rouse themselves with eagerness to make a reply; so this Figure of question and answer leads the hearer into a persuasion, that what is the effect of study is conceived and uttered without any premeditation.” So Longinus says when discussing Demosthenes' use of questions, and when summing up much of this aspect of rhetorical theory among the ancients. He adds that “the spirit and rapidity of the question and answer, and the Orator's replying upon himself, as if he was answering another, not only ennoble his oration, but give it an air of probability.” In The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749) Johnson's own questions also achieve this sense of immediacy and exchange, of vigorous involvement between narrator and reader; they also help to make his poem convincing and to engage us in our own schooling.

Johnson's poetic technique is as firmly rooted in contemporary psychology and pedagogy as in ancient rhetoric. Questions, Johnson says in July 1738, allow “the reader the satisfaction of adding something that he may call his own, and thus engage his attention by flattering his vanity.” They encourage us to respond with our own thoughts, and summon our “different faculties of memory, judgment, and imagination.” In the Preface to Dodsley's Preceptor (1748) Johnson shows how graduated questions can lead to the student's expanded vision and understanding through dialogue with and guidance by his benevolent master.