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Mina Shaughnessy Annotated Bibliography BooksShaughnessy, Mina P. Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing. New York: Oxford UP, 1977.
The Open Admissions policy required schools to admit students who “were not by traditional standards ready for college” (1). It soon became clear the students’ writing, the errors and essay structure, was also non-traditional. This book is the end product of Shaughnessy’s exhaustive study of these essays, and its purpose is to help other writing teachers realize that there is a logical explanation for the errors. Shaughnessy presents examples of student writing throughout to emphasize and explain her conclusions. She compares excerpts written at the beginning of the semester to those written at the end. The book is divided into eight chapters: 1) Introduction, 2) Handwriting and Punctuation, 3) Syntax, 4) Common Errors, 5) Spelling, 6) Vocabulary, 7) Beyond the Sentence, and 8) Expectations. The first chapter describes the genesis of the book. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 deal with errors which are directly related to grammar and its context, whereas, chapters 5, 6, and 7 pertains to errors “within other contexts or systems that can figure as importantly as grammaticality in the assessment of writing skill” (160). The final chapter acknowledges certain expectations that the students, as well as, the instructors and educational system in general, must meet in order to be successful. In addition to these chapters, Shaughnessy provides an outline to add in the teaching of punctuation, a diagnostic test, and placement essay topics. |