Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing

Mina Shaughnessy spent years teaching students at the City University of New York who arrived at college with weak writing skills, and this guide grew out of that work. Rather than treating their mistakes as signs of carelessness or lack of ability, she studied them closely and found that many followed patterns, each with its own logic. She shows teachers how to read a student's errors as clues to what the writer is trying to do, and how to build instruction on that understanding. The book covers grammar, punctuation, spelling and the wider demands of academic writing, with examples drawn from real student essays. It remains a foundational text for anyone who teaches writing to beginners.