Composition in Four Keys: Inquiring Into the Field

This was a text in my first semester of graduate school and the entire class was in knots for the first three weeks trying to grasp the concepts and theories of Britton, Murray, Bartholomea and others. Eventually, as we learned the discourse of composition theory, and every discipline has its discourse, we grew to appreciate the various approaches to a complex subject and process--writing. The book is a good sampling of articles by a long list of composition theorists, which allows graduate students and budding teachers to compare approaches and eventually develop their own philosophy of writing in academic settings. Since then I have specialized in writing across the curriculum, and I keep returning to this book when I need to refresh my memory on theory and theorists in composition. I think it's a good text but not for the faint hearted.