I ran across this in my WIP Could everyone else please give us the room for now. Obviously, it's a question. However, it's being said by the President in his own office and it seems to me that the phrasing is more out of politeness rather than him actually asking a question. Should I still end it with "?" ?
I am personally of the opinion that it should be a period to indicate that the question is rhetorical, and like you say, a pat phrasing for sake of politesse. I can hear his voice saying it and it comes out as a statement, not a question. Same thing with statements like Who knows. No question is really being asked. It's just another way to say No one knows or It's indeterminable. There's never the intonation of a question when it's said. I am sure others will disagree with me.
Yep. I'd use a period as well. When you use a question mark, the reader's mind will inflect the sentence as a question. Since that's not an accurate representation of how the speaker said it, use a period.
I feel like most presidents would say it as a command in the first place. "Give us the room." or "Please give us the room." depending on how polite they want to be. If they do it as a question they seem like a weak president but maybe that's the intention. If that is the intention maybe a question mark hits home better. Something to think about since it is something that will cause a certain percentage of readers to be pulled out of the story as is. I don't assume stuff like that is wrong immediately when I see it but I do wonder and then its a distraction. It might be better to avoid things like this when there's a simpler alternative that doesn't sacrifice meaning.
