Now that you have your keywords and topic idea down on paper think about what questions you want to answer in your paper. Can't think of what you want to answer? Then invert the idea - if you were reading a 10 page paper on the topic of gender differences in eating disorders, what would you want to have answered for you when you finished reading the paper?
Actually, your thesis statement already contains at least two questions:
And each of these obvious questions contain at least one other implied question:
AND:
So you have four to six of ten questions already.
Your next step is to write these questions down. Open the document linked below and do that (and you might want to save this and your previous document in a folder for this paper).
Knowing how many questions or claims to make in a paper is always a bit tricky. When you ask, you often get the reply "Enough to make your case convincing or to prove your point." That's certainly true, but not always helpful. Here are a couple of "rules of thumb" and explanations that might help you.
For shorter papers (10 - 12 pages) or papers in 1000 - 2000 level classes where you are just learning about the topic you'll want to have about 1 question per page of the paper to start with.
For longer papers (15 - 30 pages) or most papers in a 3000 - 4000 level class you will want to have about 1 question or claim for every 3 pages.
Make an appointment with your professor to review your questions or claims. This gives you a chance to see if you are headed in the right direction, and your professor can let you know early on if any of your questions or claims are too broad, too narrow, or just not feasible.
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