What is one way to discern the meaning of a word using the context of the writing?

Re-read the sentences that come before and after the term.
Use an internet search engine.
Look it up in the dictionary.
Ask a friend.

I would say to reread the sentences, as with the others you don't use the context to find the definition. By searching in the piece of work, you can get a general feel of the writing, which will help you decifer the meaning.

Explanation:

postive, comparative, superlative - good, better, best

recall how we defined nouns as words capable of having plurals and possessive endings. adjectives (and their first cousin, the adverb) also have a feature that distinguishes them. they come in three states. first, the raw adjective—in its positive state—merely describes the noun modified; it doesn’t care about how this particular person or thing stacks up against other members of the same noun class

wheres the following authors?