Here is a request from a reader. “There are some aspects of punctuation that bother me, mostly regarding quotation marks. For example, let us say that I quote a phrase as part of a question. Also, the phrase forms the last part of the question. Conventional schools of thought indicate that the punctuation mark must also be within quotes, and, to the best of my ability, I try to stick to that. However, a logical dilemma arises. Putting a question or exclamation mark within the quote somewhat modifies it, and may not represent the quote in the manner intended by the writer.”

Right. As you point out, Quotation (Q) marks should preserve the intention of the writer. That should be our foremost aim.
[1] Q marks are used to “set off material that represents spoken or quoted material”, right?

[2] Q marks are also used to highlight titles of short stories, poems and articles.

If you have been educated to follow the British system of punctuation and now read a lot of American writing, you have a problem. American punctuation follows a different logic.

The simple rule in the US system is:
Full-stops and commas go inside Q marks. Period. Too bad if this is not logical to that sentence. Example: He said to her, “I love you.” In England this would be: He said to her, “I love you”.

I follow the US system for periods and commas within quotation marks. Example: “You asked me a question,” she said. “And here is my answer.” See that?

What about question marks and exclamation marks? These are inside the Q marks. The following paragraph I found somewhere makes it clear. Note the marks carefully.

“I don’t care what you think anymore,” she said, jauntily tossing back her hair and looking askance at Edward.
“What do you mean?” he replied.
“What do you mean, ‘What do I mean?’”
Alberta sniffed. She was becoming impatient and wished that she were elsewhere.
“You know darn well what I mean!” Edward huffed.
“Have it your way,” Alberta added, “if that’s how you feel.”

CONTINUED…