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> >4. In some cases, generic "he" gives prose an immediacy that no readily
> > available reformulation can match
> >-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >This is a subjective matter, but I don't really see a noticable difference
> >in immediacy among the following:
> >When a doctor hears his patient's pleas, what is he to do? Where will he
> >find the answer? In his training? In his faith in God? In his innermost
> >soul? When he faces the patient, he faces himself.
> >When doctors hear their patients' pleas, what are they to do? Where will
> >they find the answer? In their training? In their faith in God? In their
> >innermost soul? When they face the patient, they face themselves.
> Really? You do not see the difference? Literally, the second is collective
> and applies to several doctors receiving several pleas - not to one doctor
> receiving one plea.
That's a diffence, but not a difference in immediacy. And literally, the
first one refers to a *man* in a white coat, not to a physician of
indeterminate gender.
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Matt Hicks, Tech. Writer, Unidata * I may not agree with what you
Boulder, CO, (303)497-8676, ******* say, but I'll defend to the
matt -at- unidata -dot- ucar -dot- edu ************* death my right to mock you.
