It is likely difficult for academics to think of a college or university that does not have some program of general education (GE). Over the past century, GE's model of liberal learning has become so entrenched in U.S. universities that it is widely seen as the core of the national undergraduate curriculum. In a series of distributed courses that may continue through all four years of college, students engage in focused inquiry, problem-solving, collaborative work, and instruction in specific content areas, all to develop lifelong learning habits that prepare them for future roles in a democratic society. Because the responsiveness of GE to national needs often serves as an indicator of the overall state of postsecondary education, proposed reforms to GE are often considered inextricable from larger societal changes. While the variety of GE programs (and the language used to describe them) is extreme, their common set of goals is generally thought to align neatly with those of Composition Studies. In this article, the author takes a look at what role a grammar of GE might play in regulating and "generalizing" first-year composition and its teachers. The author also suggests several ways that Composition Studies can be more strategic about local institutional arrangements for writing instruction. (Contains 8 notes.)