For my section CL 20, to do by Wednesday, Sept. 7: Pick a sentence that seems impossible to get around using the word “the” — and write around it until you express what you need to express. One good choice would be about the subway: “I had to take the B Train yesterday, but …” or “I went down to the subway to catch the A Train, only I found out that….” If you like, you can challenge yourself to use an example from your first writing — namely, a place where you felt you couldn’t adequately get around not using “the.” (Play with your problem until you get it ; ))