Conventions and Expectations is a basic skills handbook for the developmental writing course. It presents grammar, usage, and essay characteristics as conventions that facilitate communication. The logic and occasional illogic behind the grammar and usage principles is presented, along with common departures from convention and the contexts within which the departures are acceptable. Conventions and Expectations goes beyond the traditional handbook to explain the WHY behind the rules, and in that way it engages students and helps them commit to learning the ways of experienced writers.