jeff_999  +  147524 Thu, 13 Oct 05 04:41 PM Because early United States writers thought that the mark of great literature was grandiosity and elegance not to be found in common speech, they ---- the vernacular. (A) dissected (B) avoided (C) misunderstood (D) investigated (E) exploited Because early United States writers thought the mark of great literature not to be found in common speech, they avoided using the common speech; instead, they used the vernacular.  -- That's my interpretation of  the sentence. If it is right, then the answer has to be D. The answer, however, is B. * Puzzled *  jeff_999 Joined on Wed, Oct 20 2004 Xiamen Regular Member 817 Literature

	Philip  +  147536 Thu, 13 Oct 05 05:32 PM  Jeff_999 wrote: Because early United States writers thought that the mark of great literature was grandiosity and elegance not to be found in common speech, they ---- the vernacular. (A) dissected (B) avoided (C) misunderstood (D) investigated (E) exploited Because early United States writers thought the mark of great literature not to be found in common speech, they avoided using the common speech; instead, they used the vernacular.  -- That's my interpretation of  the sentence. If it is right, then the answer has to be D. The answer, however, is B. * Puzzled *  I certainly agree with 'B' as the answer.  The writers wanted to make their literary efforts to be grandiose and elegant, separating their style from common speech.  So, they did not use [avoided] the vernacular, the everyday style of speaking. Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,732 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Literature

	jeff_999  +  147540 Thu, 13 Oct 05 05:39 PM So, they did not use [avoided] the vernacular, the everyday style of speaking. Thank you, Philip. But I thought the vernacular was the language spoken by a certain group of people. jeff_999

	Philip  +  147626 Fri, 14 Oct 05 12:06 AM  Jeff_999 wrote: Are the vernacular and common speech the same thing? That is correct. Philip