In this author's research, the question of whether it makes sense to think of writing primarily as a generic skill acquired increasing urgency as she gathered qualitative data for a study of the relationship between instructors' expectations in the design of writing assignments and the students' thinking as evidenced both in their essay responses and in their commentary on the qualities of various writing prompts. What follows from the author is, first, an analysis of the problematic assignment as illuminated by reflections on it by the two professors (each of whom agreed to a separate videotaped interview), and by four students at different points in their academic careers, who discussed the prompt as part of a videotaped panel on assignment design. The author hoped to highlight some issues that may be increasingly worthy as the field of composition undergoes a metamorphosis from stepchild of the English department to a focus of interest for a growing number of faculty across the curriculum.