Pushing Boundaries: Teaching First-Year Composition at the High School Level

This thesis critically evaluates the essence of First Year Composition (FYC) and establishes the benefits a composition course would offer high school students. The intended purpose is to assess the feasibility of teaching FYC in the high school classroom and to consider views from the perspectives of students, teachers, and scholars in order to formulate a comprehensive conclusion. One key dispute in composition studies is whether students who write compositions as critical thinking assignments actually become better critical writers and thinkers. Proponents argue that this method establishes better writing and thinking skills among college and university students, while critics argue that since these skills do not necessarily transfer to other courses and/or disciplines, FYC should either be abolished or largely revised. This thesis suggests that the benefits of FYC clearly outweigh the problems many have cited and that key mitigation measures can be used to improve FYC courses