8/20/2019 Kip Williams Purdue

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Kip Williams Purdue

How to Write Your 500 Word Thought Papers

I realize that 500 words may seem unreasonably restricting to you, preventing you from

adequately expressing your ideas. In scientific journals, psychology included, writing isnecessarily concise. pecific page restrictions are enforced. !edundancy, flowerywriting, and ambiguity are to be edited out. "his is a difficult exercise. #our first draft foreach paper will probably be $%& pages long. 'if, on the other hand, you(re having adifficult time coming up with 500 words, then you may not be putting enough thoughtinto your )thought( papers*.#ou will then go through a thorough editing stage. +s yourself these questions- Is thissentence necessary Is this word necessary /an I combine these two sentences +mI straying from my main thesis

1 tate your thesis early and explicitly. nderline it, so I now where it is 'or put it in +11 /+2*.

2

3o not settle for a wishy%washy thesis. 4e brave enough to tae a stance andargue for it. +void the obvious 'i.e., this movie is a perfect example of thisphenomenon*. I am looing for clever insights.

3 elect a thesis with a narrow focus. It should be in some way an extention of thereading 'not the movie*. /ritically analyze the reading. "ae issue with the theory,the generalizations, or the way the idea was tested. se the movie to help comeup with your idea or to help illustrate your point.

4 3o not necessarily select a thesis that is the central focus of the movie or thereading. It could be a tangential issue that piqued your interest.

5 upport your thesis with persuasive arguments based upon examples from thereading and the movie.

6

se each paragraph to mae a point that will provide strength to your thesis. "hepoint should be clear and the paragraph should be organized around it.7  +void quotes, especially long ones.8 3efine important or esoteric terms. 3o not assume I now what you are taling

about.9 !emember that spelling, grammar, sentence structure and organization +!

important and figure into the grading.10 3o not end your paper with a platitude. 

Other tips:

ome students need an introductory sentence or two to get the ball rolling, but thesesentences can often be discarded before submitting the final draft.6ften students tal about more than one thesis, which always results in a lower grade.

"here is not enough space to write and defend more than one thesis within the 500%word limit. /hoose your most provocative and well%argued thesis, and use the entirepaper to elaborate upon it.I cut%and%paste your paper into a word document, and the first thing I do is get a wordcount. If your paper is over 500 words, I stop reading after I reach the 500th word.eriously. o, you should do a word count before submitting it., and mae sure it is nomore than 500 words. 

8/20/2019 Kip Williams Purdue

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Ideally, your paper will lead me to generate a testable hypothesis. 7eep that goal inmind. If you have room, suggest one yourself.