Through ethnographic research with students, this book contends that many composition teachers' training in critical theory may lead them to misread implicit social meanings in working class, minority, and immigrant students' writing and thinking. The author examines how the local perspectives and discursive strategies of students from these backgrounds often complicate the translation of these theories to practice. The author offers concrete assignments and curriculum design as well as reflections on the process of the teaching approaches and discussion of student's writing projects.