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Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 08:49:30 -0400
From: John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com>
Organization: No Conspiracy Here...
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Subject: Re: I just got my feedback from the intro comp...
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Stephen Bond wrote:
[...]

> Maybe you find this hard to accept, but look at it this way. In
> direct speech, it's difficult enough to get across what you really mean.
> In the literary world, where meaning is conveyed through narrative and
> metaphor and irony and other devices, it's more difficult again.

Uhm...I have to point out, here, that it's not all that difficult to inject
a particular tone into a piece of flat, ASCII text.  I point to many
messages in this thread (including yours) as an example.  It's a different
technique than for speaking, yes, but it certainly exists, has been around
for quite some time (old French satire, anyone?  Or even certain Biblical
passages), and good writers know how to use this--I'd consider it a
prerequisite to being "good."


> Also also, for the sake of simple aesthetics, it's not necessary to
> write s/he all the time. Use one or the other, and I can guarantee you
> will offend no-one.

More specifically, use the pronouns in a consistent way.  One technique
which is gaining popularity (and I happen to like it, oddly enough) is that
all "main text" uses one pronoun, with all individual examples or "side-bar"
text using the other.


