Most students arrive at Boston University with a sound background in reading, writing, and speaking at the high school level. Some, indeed, excelled in these areas. Nevertheless, the challenges that students face at the college level are different. In college, the standard of excellence is set by the preeminent writers, thinkers, and investigators whose texts we now study. The way these figures went about their work—the pleasure they took in challenging received ideas, in finding solutions to tough problems, and in framing their thoughts and feelings in the most effective language—provides us with a model of what is possible.