Teacher Resources: Course Description and Pedagogy: Error

Required Texts & Basic Student Requirements | Goals & Assumptions | Points of Emphasis | Error | Public Speaking

Error
For a detailed discussion of error, see the Grammar, Error, and Syntax pages. By the end of the semester, students should be able to produce essays with few sentence level errors. These errors include the following:

• Subject-verb agreement errors
  The thoughts a reader generates is only considered "great" when others know those thoughts.

• Sentence fragments
  We see morality through a new point of view. One that comes from nature, not the human world.

• Run-on sentences or comma splices
  There is no separation between the private and the public in American life, violation of privacy can happen at any time.

• Pronoun errors
  Each reader must struggle with the text. They decide what it will mean.
  The knowledge class has replaced the working class. This could spell disaster or it could bring new opportunities.
  Every university has it's problems. Their's is especially troubling.

• Confusion of plurals with possessives
  The dorm rooms belong to the new student's, not to senior's and sophomore's.

In addition, students should be able to demonstrate a proficiency in the use of punctuation commensurate with their status as members of the community of "educated readers." They needn't know the differences between an absolute phrase and an appositive, but they should be able to use the comma, semicolon, and colon correctly. Uses of the comma we regard as especially important include the following:

• Between items in a series of words, phrases, or clauses
  We all know that biotechnology is uncertain, dangerous, mind-boggling in its potential ramifications, and also wildly profitable.

• Between two independent clauses
  We judge people by their economic status, and in doing so we build a scale called the "social hierarchy"

• On either side of a nonrestrictive clause (a clause that often begins with who, whose, which, when, or where)
  The commercial shows the wife, whose name is Gail, as the "handyman" in the house.

• After an introductory phrase or dependent clause
  After reading de Waal and Nussbaum, I begin to question the belief that culture and biology are totally distinct.

In addition to grammar and punctuation, sentence-level clarity should receive significant attention. A sentence whose meaning is unclear may be grammatically correct but it still fails to perform its principal task, the communication of understanding. Students should be told that sustained difficulty with grammar, punctuation, and clarity (generally, three or more errors per page) will result in their failure of the course regardless of the quality of their ideas. Students should be encouraged to proofread their final drafts before bringing them to class, and teachers are advised to use the peer-revision groups as proofreading groups on the days when final drafts are due.

In the first half of the semester especially, you will find it helpful to use the handbook, Easy Access, and you should take time to instruct students in its use. You can also use the Writing Program's Proofreading and Citation Guides (these guides can be found on page 72 as well as on the Writing Program website at http://wp.rutgers.edu/teachers/101/handouts.html). In the second half of the semester, when most students will have gained better control of sentence-level error, your comments should emphasize the importance of "global issues"-organization of the argument, paragraph coherence, clarity of transitions, and so on. Students with severe or persistent problems with error should be assisted through a combination of work with you during office hours and work with a tutor at the Writing Center.

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