“Hannah, remember the old NYU short answers? 4 or 5 questions and something like 150 characters each. Nuts. But it weeded out those who were mixed up.”
I’m fine with one-sentence answers, as long as there isn’t a laundry list of heavy themes that the student must address. Many consequences are themselves over 500 characters. The consequence might be 5 days in jail, plus a 5-year suspended sentence, loss of the driver’s license for 6 months, completion of an alcohol education course, 80 hours of community service, etc. etc.