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RegCor Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

The question mark/comma/quotation mark debacle

0My colleague and I have been wondering about this for a while...If you're referring to a title with a question mark or exclamation mark, which typically requires quotation marks around it, should you use a comma along with exclamation mark and quotation mark when continuing the sentence?02br
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00For example, should it be:02br
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00Newtown Arts Company will present Rogers and Hammerstein's classic musical “Oklahoma00!00,00”00 the second show in its 2008 season.02br
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00 OR:02br
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00Newtown Arts Company will present Rogers and Hammerstein's classic musical “Oklahoma00!”00 the second show in its 2008 season.02br
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00Any help would be greatly appreciated!02br
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Top answer

02font 02b 02br 00Here is the link to the site this came from if you want to check it yourself. htm

— RayH

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19 Answers
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0 00 Please note that American English likes to place the final punctuation mark inside a title or quotation, even though it doesn't form part of it.02br
00The British regard this practice as illogical.02br
01b01font00AmE:02font02b00 He's always wanted to read "Moby ****01b01font
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0 01h3

00Hi Ray, 02h3

00Thanks for your help, however, I was wondering if there should be a comma when you have the title of a play (or book, or movie, etc.) with punctuation (like a question mark of exclamation mark) as part of the actual title. If I wanted to say - "Oklahoma!" the classic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, will be performed on stage next week - would t
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0If you're writing informally for yourself and friends, use your own judgment.02br
00If you're writing for a specific publication, use the style manual they recommend.02br
00Often the answer is different depending on where your article is published. 02br
00My personal preference is 01i00... musical "Oklahoma!", the second show ...02i02br
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0 I guess I'm inclined to treat the punctuation as just another character. I'm even more inclined to adopt the BrE method, at which point the whole question becomes moot.02br
00Thus, using the BrE method,02br
00"Oklahoma!", the classic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, will...02br
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00No muss, no fuss. 0-
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0So I have two votes for "Oklahoma00!", 00- thanks, guys! It's much appreciated!0-
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0I just looked this up in the AP Stylebook. Their style is to omit the comma if the quoated material ends with a ! or ?02br
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00I'm not sure that this entirely logical, and U.S. style, despite being illogical, is so firmly fixed with the comma inside the quote that I can't advocate for putting it after. 02br
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00Can you just rewrite to avoid the need
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0The whole situation is very confusing, and yes, in the office, we try to rewrite it to avoid the question mark/comma/quotation composition. But there has to be an answer. Being raised with the "comma always goes on the inside on a quotation mark," putting one outside looks jarring. 02br
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00 However, thank you, everyone, for your help!0-
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OK. I have a title that contains an exclamation point, e.g., Oklahoma!, it comes at the end of a question. Do I add the question mark at the end of the sentence, or treat the title as if it is a quotation and leave the question mark off, ending the sentence with the exclamation point of the title (within the quotation marks)?
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I'd probably write "Have you ever seen the musical 'Oklahoma!'?"
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First of all --> There should not be any quotation marks around the title of a play, book, newspaper, work of art, etc. Remove the quotation marks and put Oklahoma! into italics.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/italics.htm

Now, with the quotation marks removed
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