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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1990-03 > 0637815368


From: Kay Allen AG <>
Subject: Re: Eleanor of Acquitaine Weir book
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 1990 18:56:08 -0800


Hal,

I shall.

Stewart,

I never received your post, either to me or through the list.

I might also say in my own defense, that I wrote that at 4 am and I was
not writing for Elizabeth Shown Mills. I was also not writing for that
term paper class. If 50% got my drift, then I was communicating
successfully, which was what iwas attempting to do.

For what it's worth, I passed the University of California Subject A
test when I graduated from high school back when the dinosaurs were
young. That meant that I was more than capable of dealing with advanced
UC English classes which really meant something back then :-)

Kay Allen AG

H Sanders wrote:
>
> Stewart Baldwin wrote:
> >
> > On 17 Mar 2000 04:49:51 -0800, (Kay Allen AG)
> > wrote:
> >
> > >I am curretly reading my complimentary copy of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
> > >
> > >Yes, she does endnote and cite sources. However, she appears to note
> > >trivia and not some more important material. Her citing style would not
> > >pass a high school English term paper class here in the states.
> > >Elizabeth Shown Mills would blast her out of the water. Elizabeth Shown
> > >Mills is the editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and
> > >is known for her devotion to highest standards.
> > >
> > >She is also highly selective in using sources. She tends to only cite
> > >those that support her views and ignores material which would challenge
> > >her theses.
> >
> > Oops. I think you need to watch your pronouns a bit more carefully,
> > Kay. :-) IIRC, one of the points made by Elizabeth Shown Mills in
> > her comments on genealogical writing is that pronouns should always
> > have clear antecedents, in order to avoid ambiguity. The "she" of the
> > second paragraph looks as if it might be referring back to Eleanor,
> > when context suggests that Weir (whose name is buried in the material
> > you quoted) is the subject. However, it is the "She" which begins the
> > third paragraph that is most easily misinterpreted. In that case,
> > ordinary English usage would be that Elizabeth Shown Mills was the
> > antecedent of that pronoun, but I am pretty sure that you meant those
> > comments to apply to Weir and not to Mills.
> >
> > Of course, this is also very important in genealogical writing. A
> > sentence like "He was the father of _____." can easily lead to errors
> > in genealogical databases if the identity of "He" is ambiguous.
> >
> > Stewart Baldwin
>
> -----------------------------
>
> I rather doubt that any of us were confused. Most of us realized, as did
> you, that Weir was the author and Eleanor was the subject of the book.
> And, Kay, please keep us posted on your opinion of the book.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Hal Sanders

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