TPO 12　Conversation 1

　　Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.

　　Student
　　So Professor Tibets, your notes said that you want to see me about my heavy-weight paper. I have to say that grade wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought I’d done a pretty good job.
　　Professor
　　Oh, you did. But do you really want to settle for pretty good when you can do something very good?
　　Student
　　You think it can be very good?
　　Professor
　　Absolutely!
　　Student
　　Would that mean you’d…I could get a better grade?
　　Professor
　　Oh, sorry! It’s not for your grade. It's…I think you could learn a lot by revising it.
　　Student
　　You mean, rewrite the whole thing? I really swamped. There’re deadlines wherever I turn and… and I don’t really know how much time I could give it.
　　Professor
　　Well, it is a busy time, with spring break coming up next week. It’s your call. But I think with all a little extra effort, you could really turn this into a fine essay.
　　Student
　　No… yeah…I mean, after I read your comments, I...I can see how it tries to do too much.
　　Professor
　　Yeah. It’s just too ambitious for the scope of the assignment.
　　Student
　　So I should cut out the historical part?
　　Professor
　　Yes. I would just stick to the topic. Anything unrelated to the use of nature EMITRY has no place in the paper. All that tangential material just distracted from the main argument.
　　Student
　　Yeah, I never know how much to include. You know…where to draw the line?
　　Professor
　　Tell me about it! All writers struggled without one. But it’s something you can learn. That will become more clear with practice. But I think if you just cut out  the…emm…
　　Student
　　The stuff about history, but if I cut out those sections, won’t it be too short?
　　Professor
　　Well, better a short well-structured paper than a long paper that poorly-structured and wanders off topic.
　　Student
　　So all I have to do is to leave those sections?
　　Professor
　　Well, not so fast. After you cut out those sections, you’ll have to go back and revise the rest, to see how it all fits together. And of course, you’ll have to revise the introduction too, to accurately describe what you do in the body of the paper. But that shouldn’t be too difficult. Just remember to keep the discussion focused. Do you think you can get it to me by noon tomorrow?
　　Student
　　Wow…emm…I have so much…er…but I’ll try.
　　Professor
　　OK, good! Do try! But if you can’t, well, sure for after spring break, OK?