Writing Across the Curriculum

A Tool for Instructors:  Guidance in Dealing with Writing Mechanics

Elizabeth Dodge

USM Department of English and Russell Scholars Program

 Checklist for Mechanics  

It is important to recognize that perfect grammar, spelling, and punctuation will produce neither complex critical thinking nor an artful writing style.  However, most of us would agree that poor mechanics impede communication, at best, and often reflect confused thinking. 

When a student’s writing reveals a large number of errors in mechanics, the teacher response often swings between a feeling of helplessness and dogged determination to correct every error.  The following remarks are directed at finding a balance between these responses in order to best direct the student (and preserve teacher sanity).  When examined closely, student errors in mechanics generally fall into error patterns.  Ideally, the most productive response is to help each student identify and overcome her or his most frequent error patterns.

A suggested method for doing so is to become familiar with the most common error patterns identified below.  When reading an individual student’s paper, look for one or two of the student’s error patterns and mark them on the paper.  The student should be directed to follow up with a reading on that topic in Hacker and then be asked to identify and correct other instances of the same error on the paper.  (If the student is still confused after studying Hacker, you can work individually or request that s/he see a tutor.)  You can also discuss the most common error patterns in a particular class at various points throughout the semester.

Above all, the process for overcoming error patterns should be student driven, and each student should be able to identify, discuss, and correct her or his most common patterns of error.

Top 10 Areas of Confusion in Mechanics Among College Students

(Note:  The letter/number following each item indicates the section of Hacker, 5^th edition, that addresses this topic.)  

1. Unintended sentence fragments (G5)
2. Sentences with incorrectly connected clauses; i.e., run-on sentences.  Many run-ons can be corrected simply by inserting a semicolon.  (G6)  Note:  An overly long sentence that contains too many ideas is often incorrectly referred to as a run-on but is not unless its parts are improperly connected.  In other words, a very long sentence may be correct but still be confusing.
3. Shifts in verb tense that confuse because they have no purpose.  (S4b)
4. Unnecessary shirts in point of view.  The perspective from which the essay is written (first person, second person, or third person) shifts for no reason.  A sudden shift to the second person (you) is the most common error.  (S4a)
5. Problems with pronoun reference (the word a pronoun refers to).  A pronoun’s reference will be unclear if it is ambiguous, implied, vague, or indefinite.  In particular, many students don’t understand the “paragraph/pronoun rule”:  Every time a new paragraph is begun, the topic (noun) being discussed must be renamed.  Thus if a student is writing a paper about Lincoln , the third paragraph cannot begin with the word “he”; it must begin with “ Lincoln .”  (G3b)
6. Lack of agreement between a pronoun and the word it refers to.  Note:  Many teachers now accept the use of “they” in instances where “he or she” used to be required:  Everyone should remove their hat.  (G3a)
7. Shifts and mixed constructions.   These include shifts from indirect to direct questions or quotations, mixed grammar, and illogical connections.  (S5)
8. Placement of modifiers.  (S3)
9. Inability to recognize restrictive and nonrestrictive sentence elements and punctuate accordingly.  (P1e)
10. Use of apostrophes, specifically confusion between plurals and possessives and between singular and plural possessives.  (P5)