1. HOW TO READ SHORT STORIES A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED © Perry Glasser

2. LITERARY FICTION IS ABOUT MORE THAN SIMPLE ENTERTAINMENT You’ve got TV for mindless entertainment….BUT  Appreciating modern short fiction requires more than understanding the story  Engage your:  Heart with emotions  Mind with ideas

3. HOW TO TAKE NOTES Read a story in a circumstance fee of screens and other distractions Underscore significant passages Write notes on either a 3x5 card, a sheet of notebook paper, or in an electronic file. Jot down AT LEAST,  TITLE,  AUTHOR,  PROTAGONIST,  PROBLEM. YOUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO REVIEW WORK WITHOUT REOPENING THE TEXTBOOK!!

4. TAKING NOTES - CHARACTER  How have the characters been presented to you?  Are their problems internal or external?  Are they aware of the their problems?  What do they do about their problems?  Are there strategies they did not think of?  Does the writer use his/her own voice, or does the story rely on the characters’ voice(s) and language?

5. TAKING NOTES - INSIGHT If you were the protagonist, what would you do in the same situation? What advice would you give the protagonist? Is the protagonist behaving in a way that seems psychologically accurate?

6. TAKING NOTES - THEME  Is there any repetitive imagery?  If so, where, what, and what meaning does it suggest?  Does the story end in a way that suggests an idea that goes beyond the surface plot?  If so, where, what, and what does it mean?  Do the characters engage in any activity that suggests something more than day-to-day life?  If so, where, what, and what does it mean?  Do the characters struggle with some aspect of life successfully or unsuccessfully?  If so, where, what, and what does that mean?

7. TAKING NOTES – SOCIAL COMMENTARY Is there a social problem in the story?  What is it? What is the conventional wisdom on the social problem? What new insight about the social problem does the writer offer?

8. TAKING NOTES – STYLE 1 “A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, he then invents as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect. If his very initial sentence tend not to the outbringing of this effect, then he has failed in his first step. In the whole composition there should be no words written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design.”

9. TAKING NOTES – STYLE 2 What details did you read that revealed character? What details did you read that advanced the plot? What words did you read that added insight for plot, character, and theme?

10. FINAL THOUGHTS Yes! You are supposed to think about all of that while you read: otherwise, you are just skimming your eyes down the page. The writer thought of all of it…why not you? And…. Read a story twice or three times until you get it! And,…. Like bicycle riding or skateboarding, it will get easier the more you do.