First-year composition became the most common course in American higher education not because it could fix underprepared student writers, but because it has historically served significant institutional interests. That is, it can be conceded in multiple ways to help institutions solve political, promotional, and financial problems." Conceding Composition"is a wide-ranging historical examination of composition s evolving institutional value in American higher education over the course of nearly a century.
Based on extensive archival research conducted at six American universities and...