Part I: Succeeding in Composition describes teacher expectations in various models of the composition course. It then elaborates on nineteen do's and don'ts (attend class; understand assignments, turn in neat copy, etc.). The premise is that most student failure in composition results from ineffective behavior, not hopelessly poor writing ability.

Part II: Meeting the Challenges of Academic Writing looks in detail at three of the most difficult and important challenges of academic writing: full development of points, educated adult reasoning, and the incorporation of outside sources.

Part III: Handling the Major Assignments shows students how to create a well-developed first draft of the five most common writing assignments: the personal narrative, the informative article, the argument on a controversial issue, the literary criticism paper, and the long research paper.