An examination of the transformations that the concept of genius undergoes when viewed through the apparently incommensurable expressivistic and social views of composing helps to reconcile phenomenologically objective descriptions of composing with value-laden descriptions of the self in the act of writing. When the description of composition is changed, a different aspect of the complex act of composition is highlighted and the center of the composing act is moved to a new location. Both descriptions carry with them assumptions on the value of writing and of the notion of the "self" writing. A series of brief but contrasting descriptions of the composing process serves to suggest representative positions compositionists have taken. In the expressivistic view, the self struggles both with and against language in order to understand and extend the autonomous self but loses opportunities to enlarge and enrich the self through participation in cooperative projects. The self in the social constructivist view must conform to linguistic form and convention but decreases self-definition. If Husserlian phenomenology is to aid in the study of the complex act of composing, it must take into account individuals composing in various scenes, directed toward different purposes, and using a variety of discourse forms. How composing processes are understood and described has important consequences for the writing teacher's students, not only in the classroom but later when they leave the university. (RS)