Instructional Note: Contracting English Composition: It Only Sounds Like an Illness

Describes a system of contract grading in an introductory college composition which the author devised and has used for two years, in which all students sign a contract that delineates requirements for a course grade of “B.” Discusses these requirements, how students can raise their grade, and student responses. Notes that a continued dialog about students’ writing is often the quite satisfying result.