In the following sentence, which is a quotation for a newspaper ad,
does the comma fall before or after the end single quote?  "As in
'Whale Rider," this film is a coming of age story."

Hi buffp,

The answer depends on where you are located, or perhaps the location
of the readers or editors for whom you wish to be correct.

In the United States, the comma should appear before the end single quote.

The University of Chicago Press "Manual of Style" says:

"When the context calls for a comma at the end of material enclosed in
quotation marks, parentheses, or brackets, the comma should be placed
inside the quotation marks, but outside the parentheses or
brackets..."

(12th edition, 1969, p. 116)

The Concise English Handbook by James W. Kirkland and Collett B.
Dilworth, Jr., agrees:

"Put commas inside quotation marks ..., except when a comma is used to
separate the quotation from introductory words."

(Instructor's Annotated Edition of 3rd edition, 1994, p. 250)

However, usage is different in British-influenced countries, where
people use the "logical" style of putting punctuation inside or
outside quotation marks depending on whether the punctuation is
logically part of the quoted text.  In this case, the comma would go
outside the quotation marks, because the comma is logically part of
the surrounding sentence, not part of the title.

A number of web pages mention this distinction, including the Capital
Community College Foundation's Guide to Grammar and Writing.
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm

Logical punctuation works better in technical writing where it is
important to have quoted text be correct character-for-character.  For
example, if you want to tell someone to type "stop," in a context like
this where it would be followed by a comma, it works better to put the
comma outside the quotation marks, to make it clear that the comma is
not to be typed.  So I believe logical punctuation is making some
headway in the United States in this specific context, as this post
from Dick Margulis notes.
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/archives/0410/techwhirl-0410-00173.html


Additional Links

A discussion of this issue in the Style FAQ of the Copyediting-l mailing list.
http://www.telp.com/editing/styfaq1.htm

The Grammar Curmudgeon's views.
http://www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com/articles/article/1026513/10660.htm

An essay on this topic by Tina Blue.
http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/inside.html

Canadian documentation firm NIVA, Inc. also mentions the
American/British difference.  They have different standards for
technical and literary usage.
http://www.writersblock.ca/tips/monthtip/tipmay96.htm

Vlorbik, apparently an American located in Columbus, Ohio, cites
additional authorities supporting what I have identified as US usage,
and argues in favor of logical punctuation instead.
http://members.aol.com/vlorbik/tenpage/quotes.html


I hope this is a satisfactory answer to your question.  If you need
any further information, please ask for a clarification.

--efn

Just a question - was the original text presented like as follows?

"As in 'Whale Rider', this film a coming of age story."

* Use double quotations to mark direct quotations.
* Use single quotations (or italics) to mark film titles.
* The comma falls outside the single quotation marks because the comma
is   not part of the title 'Whale Rider'.
* The comma marks the end of a dependent/subordinate clause.

Elements of Style
http://www.bartleby.com/141/

Oh, and sorry about the grammatical error in my first comment. My bad.

* j *

after