In the 70s and early 80s a response to social and political pressures caused a major change in higher education policy that resulted in more individuals having access to higher education (Mutnick 22). Alongside a new “open admissions” policy change, popular media argued that individuals entering higher education under this policy possessed such “poor literacy skills” that they were “uneducable and underserving of a college education” (Mutnick 22). Basic writing was a reaction to these social, political, and media pressures. In her highly persuasive 1977 monograph Errors and Expectations (Errors), Mina Shaughnessy makes a convincing case in support of her “logic of error” (Mutnick 22), which made popular error-centered approaches to writing instruction. Proponents influenced by error-centered notions view any sign of conflict and struggle in a BW student’s writing as an enemy to be conquered. Pedagogies built on this thinking serve as fortifications designed to keep this enemy at bay.