In this article, we assess the status of basic writing early in the twenty-first century. Beginning with a discussion of the attacks on BW that intensified during the 1990s and early 2000s--attacks that originated from such diverse sources as state legislatures, university officials, and BW scholars themselves--we go on to summarize the responses…

Represents an attempt to define the seriousness of errors by computerized tabulation and in a limited context, because no reliable accounting of general attitudes toward errors exists. (MG)