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Should

Why not read our story?

have a question mark? It is a suggestion, not really a question, so I assume it shouldn't have the question mark.

͢bts
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    The question mark serves to enhance or emphasize the suggestion. It makes it more suggestive. As if you should honestly ask yourself this question. In other words: it's fine. – Dan Bron Apr 12 '16 at 10:53
  • The question mark implies that the sentence is to be read as if it were a question -- with rising tone at the end. The above sentence would sound very "dead" if it were not read with this sort of intonation. There is no requirement whatsoever that the presence of the question mark correspond somehow with the actual wording of the sentence. – Hot Licks Apr 12 '16 at 12:06
  • It seems to me most instances of Why not visit us here occur in contexts without a question mark (some of them even have an exclamation mark!). – FumbleFingers Apr 12 '16 at 12:42

1 Answers1

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This is a rhetorical question:

A rhetorical question is asked just for effect or to lay emphasis on some point discussed when no real answer is expected. A rhetorical question may have an obvious answer but the questioner asks rhetorical questions to lay emphasis to the point. In literature, a rhetorical question is self-evident and used for style as an impressive persuasive device. - literarydevices.net

Even though you're not actually asking a question to which you genuinely want an answer, it's a question nevertheless and it logically follows that it would need a question mark. Note that the examples on the linked page all use question marks as well.

There is a literary technique whereby sometimes a rhetorical question is written without a question mark, for example:

He sighed as the water rose up to his neck and the alligators closed in. "It's going to be one of those days, isn't it."

The purpose of this is to show that the delivery of the sentence is an exhausted monotone and there's no rise in inflection at the end, which is usually indicative of a question.

John Clifford
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