These essays will naturally be a lot easier to navigate than the long essays because there simply isn't as much content or transitions to wade through. Read (don't skim) every sentence because there will be a lot of information contained in a short space.

Mapping:

Paraphrase
Understand what each paragraph is about (tone, main idea, relation to preceding paragraph) and jot down a short summary of the main idea.

Big Picture
Pay particular attention to the tone and main idea of the first paragraph. When you have finished the essay, you should have a good mental road map from doing this process. In fact, it is possible to intuitively grasp the structure of many short essays simply from reading the essay.

Here is a sample short passage with accompanying commentary:

Read the commentary as you are reading the essay to see the underlying logic of how essays work.

3. See the Organization

3b. Long Essays