Punctuation is important. It is an essential part of the signaling system of language and is central to effective communication – as well as to the passing of exams. A lot of people, however, make an awful mess of punctuation, which means that their performance in essays suffers and that they fail to do themselves justice.
The question mark, unlike the exclamation mark, is essential, and something you must take care to include when it is required:
Did Napoleon represent a real threat to Britain?
Whenever you ask a direct question in your writing, you need to include a question mark: Can I borrow your bike? Is your name Marco? Does metal expand when heated? How long is a piece of string? It is sometimes a little Wore difficult to remember that you are asking a question if you construct a complex sentence with subordinate clauses that delay the arrival of the Question:
The question is, given British naval superiority and the fact that Britain is an island; did Napoleon represent a real threat to Britain?
It is all too easy to forget about the question mark at the end of a long Sentence like this, and, indeed, it could be argued that its presence or absence does not make a lot of difference. But try to remember to include it, BS this is an indication to your reader that you are paying close attention to the form of what you are writing. But be careful. If we had written, ‘the (function remains as to whether or not Napoleon represented a real threat to Britain’, then this is not asking a question as such. The word ‘question’ in the sentence could be replaced by the word ‘problem’ or ‘issue’. Secondly, we need to distinguish direct questions – Did Napoleon represent a real threat to Britain? – From indirect questions: Students sometimes wonder whether Napoleon posed a real threat to Britain.
One additional complication is the series of short sentences, or the question mark popping up in the wrong place:
Was Napoleon really so fearsome? And why did he cause such trepidation?
This should be either: Was Napoleon really so fearsome? Why did he cause such trepidation? Or: Was Napoleon really so fearsome, and why did he cause such trepidation? Except in some very specific circumstances too rare to go into, a question mark cannot suddenly appear in the middle of a sentence. The logic of the question mark, then, is exactly the same as that of the full stop: it comes at the end of the sentence and is followed by a capital letter.