Because a review of the literature shows a relationship between reading and writing, a project devised for teaching college composition classes consists of five assignments, culminating with a formal research paper. Students begin the project by doing research on an essayist chosen from a list provided by the teacher. In the first assignment, students write a short process essay on how they found the general sources, list a bibliography of sources that a student might use, and compose a biobibliographical sketch of the author. The second assignment requires summaries of three essays on which students have decided to work and a statement of purpose. For the third assignment, a "directing theme," students use only the information obtained from the first assignment and from the primary source. The fourth assignment is a working bibliography of secondary sources, while the fifth assignment is a formal research paper. This five-assignment project has proven beneficial because students are working on similar projects, thus unifying the class while allowing for a wide variety of subject matter. (Examples of student writing are included.) (DF)