How should you read a short story? According to the philosopher John Locke:”Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking [that] makes what we read.”In other words, gaining the most from reading depends on reading actively, or with a questioning mind.Use the following strategies to help you read actively. They will help you interact with the short story and figure out what makes it effective. 

An active reader reads not only for meaning but also to appreciate the way the author has put together the elements of the short story to create an effective work. The best way to gain this appreciation is by asking and answering questions about the elements as you read. Below are some of the types of questions you might ask yourself as you go through a short story.Your answers to these questions will help you begin brainstorming, to overcome the awful whiteness of the empty page.

1.  From what point of view is the story told?
Point of view is the vantage point from which a story is told.Does the author stand 
Can you speculate on the appropriateness of that point of view? If a story is told from the point of view of a first-person narrator who participates in the action, what significant changes would occur if it were told from the point of view of an omniscient author? And of course, vice versa. Keep in mind that first-person narrators do not know what other characters think. On the other hand, omniscient narrators know everything about the lives of the characters. How would the story you are writing about be changed if the viewpoint were changed?

2.  Who are the principal characters in the story?
(There will rarely be more than three in a short story; the other characters will often be portrayed sketchily; sometimes they are even stereotypes.) What functions do the minor characters serve? Do any of the characters change during the course of the story? How, and why?

3.  What is the plot of the story?
Do the events that constitute the plot emerge logically from the nature of the characters and circumstances, or are the plot elements coincidental and arbitrary?

4.  What is the setting of the story?
Does the setting play an important role in the story, or is it simply the place where things happen? What might the consequences of some other setting be for the effectiveness of the story?

5.  What is the tone of the story?
Read the first several paragraphs of the story to see how the tone is established. Does the tone change with events, or remain fixed? How does the tone contribute to the effect of the story?

6.  Do you find ambiguities in the story?
That is, can you interpret some element of the story in more than one way? Does that ambiguity result in confusion, or does it add to the complexity of the story?

7.  When was the story written?
Bring your knowledge of history and contemporary events to bear on your reading of the story. Does the story clarify, enhance, or contradict your understanding of history?

8.  What is the theme of the story?
This, finally, is often the most significant question to answer. All the elements of fiction, tone, setting, plot, theme, characterization, and point of view have been marshaled to project a theme — the moral proposition the author wishes to advance. When you write about a work, resist the tendency to do the easiest thing — retell the plot, incident by incident. You must work instead to understand the devices the author uses to convey his or her theme, and, in your essay, reveal that understanding.
 

Some Strategies:

1.Question
Become actively involved in the story by asking questions about what you are reading. For example, don't just accept the characters in a story at face value, but try to figure out what they are like and why they act as they do. Ask questions about why events occur and what will be the result of certain actions. Look at the setting and ask how it affects the characters and the plot. Then as you read, try to find the answers to your questions. 

2.Predict
As you read, make predictions about what will happen next. Even Predict when writing, fiction, writers usually try to create a world that resembles real life. Therefore, bring your own experience to the short story and make predictions about what the characters will do and what will happen next based on your own knowledge and expectations of life. 

3.Clarify
Find the answers to your questions and monitor your predictions, or check to see whether they turn out to be accurate. If there is some- thing in the story you do not understand, stop to figure out the situation or find the meaning.

3.Summarize
At appropriate points in the story, pause to summarize or review what has happened so far. Then keep this summary in mind as you read the next segment of the short story.

4.Pull It Together
 At the end of the story, pull all the details together. Determine the central point or insight of the story. In other words, what did it mean to you? React to it. Did you like it? Why or why not?

These strategies will help you recall details from the story, interpret what you have read, and apply the story to your life. On the facing page is a model showing how an active reader might read a story by interacting with it. 
 
 

Adapted from http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/fiction/index.htm