Both British and Australian English observes the `comma inside' practice in literary texts. The practice is called `the fiction-convention comma'. Under that convention, the comma stays inside the direct-speech sequence: `I really am hungry,' said John. But that comma is supposed to be confined to fiction. (Ghastly, really, and quite illogical.) Sophie ----- Original Message ----- From: Reinhold Schlieper <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2001 12:45 AM Subject: Re: A simple question? > Some handbook somewhere and somewhen mentioned that the "period and > comma always inside" rule is an American typesetters' convention. I > have seen it frequently transgressed against in Australian and British > text. And I know that German doesn't abide by it at all. > > ==Reinhold > > > "Glauner, Jeff" wrote: > > > > Some style guides disagree on this point, but the MLA (Modern Language > > Association) style guide places commas inside quotation marks. > > > > One problem in your sentence, however, is that quotation marks that occur > > within other quotation marks are single instead of double symbols: "The > > sculpture, 'The Discus Thrower,' was beautiful to behold." > > > > I'll leave the question that might arise of whether the name of an artwork > > should be in italics or enclosed in quotation marks for another day. > > > > Jeff Glauner > > Associate Professor of English > > Park University, Box 1303 > > 8700 River Park Drive > > Parkville MO 64152 > > [log in to unmask] > > http://www.park.edu/jglauner/index.htm > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Rabinowitz, Jennifer [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > > Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 2:43 PM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: A simple question? > > > > Hello one and all, > > > > I have a question. Is the placement of commas inside the quotation marks > > correct in this sentence: "The sculpture,"Discus Thrower," was beautiful to > > behold." That is, are commas always inside quotations? > > > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > > at: > > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > > and select "Join or leave the list" > > > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > > and select "Join or leave the list" > > > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/