As you read your  magazine shorts, remember not only are you writing a description post on this short for tomorrow, you will also be using these shorts as models for your next post assignment (writing your own short).   You really want to think not so much about content, but about form.  How is this piece accomplishing what it wants to accomplish in the space it has to accomplish its task.  Some questions to think about:

What is the central topic of this piece?

What is this piece’s underlying aim?  (I.e.  What does the article want to do?  Does it have an argument it wants to make?  Do you have a sense of who its intended audience is and what it wants that audience to think about or do?)

Can you describe what the piece does in the beginning of the article in order to achieve its underlying aim?

“. . . .”  in the middle of the article?

“. . . ” at the end of the article?

Does the article make use of any noticeable rhetorical devices?  Some examples of common rhetorical devices include but are not limited to:

Anecdotes

Quotes

Snappy one liners

Comparisons

Carrying an example to the extreme

Fear tactics

Lists

Compelling and easy to chief data bites.

 

Your description shouldn’t just be answers to these questions, but answering these questions should help you assess the reading and write a strong description post.