Here are some guidelines for the short papers. This description is
based on Karen Waldron's description of response papers. With her
permission, I've taken several sentences verbatim from one of her
syllabi.
Response papers for this class give you the opportunity to capture
your ideas and go beneath the surface by asking you to write about
some ideas from the class that have captured your imagination. While
they should be typed and coherent (and
spell-checked), response papers do not need to be as structured as
formal essays. Your paper should reflect both deep analytic thought
and intellectual risk-taking. Find something that really interests
you to explore. Push the idea as far as you can and push
yourself. Make a discovery and ensure that your reader will not be
bored by what you see and say. Defend your perspective. Above all,
the response paper should be intellectually and emotionally
satisfying. In approaching the response paper, plan to sit down at
your computer or journal and address something you can really develop
passion and concern about. Choose a question, word, phrase, issue,
image, equation, person, quotation, or idea from the readings or
discussion and dig deeply.