NARRATOR：

Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.

MALE STUDENT：

So Professor Tibbits, your notes said that you want to see me … about my Hemingway paper?

I have to say, that grade wasn't what I was expecting. I thought I'd done a pretty good job.

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

Oh, you did. But do you really want to settle for pretty good when you can do something very good?

MALE STUDENT：

You think it can be very good?

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

Absolutely!

MALE STUDENT：

Would that mean you'd... I could get a better grade?

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

Oh, sorry! It's not for your grade. It's... I think you could learn a lot by revising it.

MALE STUDENT：

[reluctant] You mean, rewrite the whole thing? I'm really swamped; there’s deadlines wherever I turn, and … and I don’t really know how much time I could give it.

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

Well, it is a busy time, with spring break coming up next week.

It's your call. But I think with a little extra effort, you could really turn this into a fine essay.

MALE STUDENT：

No... yeah... I mean, after I read your comments, I... I can see how it tries to do too much.

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

Yeah. It's just too ambitious for the scope of the assignment.

MALE STUDENT：

[upspeak] So I should cut out the historical part?

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

Yes. I would just stick to the topic, anything unrelated to the use of nature imagery has no place in the paper.

All that tangential material just distract from the main argument.

MALE STUDENT：

I never know how much to include, you know... where to draw the line?

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

[sarcastic] Tell me about it! All writers struggle with that 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...

MALE STUDENT：

The stuff about history, but if I cut out those sections, won't it be too short?

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

Well, better a short, well-structured paper than a long paper that's poorly-structured and wanders off topic.

MALE STUDENT：

So, all I have to do is to delete those sections?

FEMALE 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?

MALE STUDENT：

Wow... emm... I have so much.. er.. but I'll try.

FEMALE PROFESSOR：

OK, good! Do try! But if you can't, well, shoot for after spring break, OK?