The best magazine
- 1). Read the "blurbs" on the inside front cover or back cover to gather information about the author and his or her favorite subjects.
- 2). Look at the date of publication - it can often help you to set the scene or exclude a particular historical background.
- 3). Skim the table of contents if you are reading a complete collection of the author's works. Sometimes you can tell if short stories are meant to be read together just by looking at titles.
- 4). Examine the title of the story; you can often consider it a condensation of the essential point.
- 5). Read dialogue carefully. In many short stories, though not all, revelation of character comes mostly through conversation, since there is little time for action.
- 6). Expect a dramatic, surprising or even odd twist at the end of the story - you will have been set up for it quite carefully.
- 7). Re-examine the title and read the story again to identify the clues to the ending that you may have missed the first time through.
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