CompFAQ:Index
🏠 FAQ Index • Basics • Rhetoric • Organization • Style • Mechanics • Research • Digital Writing • Literature
What began as a Composition FAQ to address difficulties that many new college writers have with mechanics, style, content, and structure has metamorphosed into a no-cost, online textbook for first- and second-year college students that takes the idea that better readers make better writers as its guiding premise.
The book is divided into sections that address the various stages of college composition in several courses: ENGL 1101 introduces students to the fundamentals of college writing; ENGL 1102 acts as an introduction to literature; “Lit Survey” develops more advanced writing skills for sophomore humanities courses; and “WritDM” teaches the composition skills for writing in digital platforms. Each of these sections of the book will use the CompFAQ as its content. Students new to this site might begin with the primer questions below.
Browse by Category
This index contains all of the questions available on this FAQ, divided by type. Some questions may be repeated in two or more sections.
Primer Questions
Consider the following as a primer for first-year college writing. These are the basic concepts that you should already have an understanding of before beginning first-year composition.
- What writing knowledge should I already have coming into college?
- How do I get started writing?
- What questions do I need to ask as a writer?
- What is “critical thinking”?
- What is a “thesis statement”?
- How can my writing be more persuasive?
- Is it cheating or unethical to use an AI to help with writing?
- How do I begin writing about literature?
Part of the Composition FAQ project, licensed 
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Last updated: 12 November 2025.
Maintained by G. R. Lucas.