2nd Year Hon. Mention: A Timely Solution

WRIT 2710, Grammar and Proofreading. CD: Kim Michasiw

Abstract

It is no small (or short) thing to compose a two-hundred-word sentence, still less one that retains its coherence and tells a story in the meantime. When the instructor adds to this a requirement to use seven different grammatical elements and at least four words from an English vocabulary list devised by one of York University’s foremost glottologists, well, the task is still more daunting.

So, it was with some awe that the assessors read “A Timely Solution.” This piece does very well to take its audience through a rousing tale of high intrigue, lowly fishmongers, and sudden regime change, while demonstrating a mastery of syntax, grammar, and narration all-in-a-piece. But even more impressive is the author’s inclusion of all twenty-three entries from the required glossary of obscure and difficult words included on the assignment sheet. Four words was the required standard; one might expect two or three times this number in an excellent piece. But to include the entire list of twenty-three marks a highly skilled and conscious composition that stands out as a creative and rigorous example for others.