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    Kami Export - 6 The Literary Present Tense Handout

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    Sean Zhou
    The document discusses the appropriate verb tenses to use when writing about literary works and events. It explains that [1] the present tense, also called the literary present tense, should be used to describe the events and characters within a fictional text as they exist in an eternal present state whenever being read. It also notes that [2] the past tense should be used for historical events related to a text or author, while [3] the present tense is used for statements and arguments made within nonfiction texts. Finally, it states that [4] a paper may need to use both present and past tenses depending on what is being referred to regarding the literature.

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    Kami Export - 6 The Literary Present Tense Handout

    Uploaded by

    Sean Zhou
    122 views2 pages
    The document discusses the appropriate verb tenses to use when writing about literary works and events. It explains that [1] the present tense, also called the literary present tense, should be used to describe the events and characters within a fictional text as they exist in an eternal present state whenever being read. It also notes that [2] the past tense should be used for historical events related to a text or author, while [3] the present tense is used for statements and arguments made within nonfiction texts. Finally, it states that [4] a paper may need to use both present and past tenses depending on what is being referred to regarding the literature.

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    The document discusses the appropriate verb tenses to use when writing about literary works and events. It explains that [1] the present tense, also called the literary present tense, should be used to describe the events and characters within a fictional text as they exist in an eternal present state whenever being read. It also notes that [2] the past tense should be used for historical events related to a text or author, while [3] the present tense is used for statements and arguments made within nonfiction texts. Finally, it states that [4] a paper may need to use both present and past tenses depending on what is being referred to regarding the literature.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    122 views2 pages

    Kami Export - 6 The Literary Present Tense Handout

    Uploaded by

    Sean Zhou
    The document discusses the appropriate verb tenses to use when writing about literary works and events. It explains that [1] the present tense, also called the literary present tense, should be used to describe the events and characters within a fictional text as they exist in an eternal present state whenever being read. It also notes that [2] the past tense should be used for historical events related to a text or author, while [3] the present tense is used for statements and arguments made within nonfiction texts. Finally, it states that [4] a paper may need to use both present and past tenses depending on what is being referred to regarding the literature.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    The Literary Present Tense

    Literary characters and the fictional events concerning them exist in an eternally present state. In
    other words, every time anyone opens a particular book to a particular page and reads a
    particular paragraph, the same events will always be occurring and the characters will always be
    doing the same thing. Therefore, when writing about fictional events or literature, one should
    always use the present tense, known in this case as the literary present tense.

    Always consider the following rules when deciding what verb tense to use in papers:

    1. Use the literary present tense when writing about the events in a text or the actions of a
    text whether it is a work of fiction, poetry, or nonfiction literature.

    Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth follows Milo as he travels through the
    Kingdom of Wisdom and meets the various colorful characters that reside there.

    2. Use the past tense when writing about historical events even if said historical events
    involve the author of a text or historical details about the text itself.

    Shel Silverstein published his first collection of poems, Where the Sidewalk Ends, in
    1974. The 2004 30th Anniversary Edition of the book introduced 12 new poems.

    3. Use the present tense when writing about an author’s statements or arguments in texts
    including essays, articles, books, etc.

    In the opening of his essay “Here Is a Lesson in Creative Writing,” Kurt Vonnegut
    argues that one should not use semicolons because they are "transvestite
    hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing."

    4. As a result of the above rules and situations, it may be necessary to use both present and
    past tense when writing about literature.

    William Faulkner was more than likely inspired by his own personal experiences in a
    New Orleans artists’ community when writing his second novel, Mosquitoes. In the
    novel, a group of young artists embark on a yachting excursion which begins and ends
    in the Big Easy.
    Practice Using Correct Verb Tenses to Write about Literature

    Choose the correct verb tense to correctly refer to the textual and historical information in the
    examples below:

    1. “The Yellow Wallpaper” (explores, explored) a woman’s descent into madness.

    2. E. E. Cummings (writes, wrote) The Enormous Room while imprisoned in France.

    3. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” Dee and her family (have, had) a disagreement over
    some family heirloom quilts.

    4. In the poem “If,” Rudyard Kipling directly (addresses, addressed) his son.

    5. Neil Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors (is, was) published in 1998 and (contains, contained)
    both short stories and poems.

    6. In “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko (claims, claimed) that lack of alternatives
    to fast food and lack of nutrition information on fast food are to blame for American
    obesity and its adverse health effects.

    7. After he (learns, learned) that his father was murdered by his uncle, Hamlet (vows,
    vowed) revenge.

    8. In her extended essay “A Room of One’s Own,” Virginia Woolf (uses, used) a fictional
    narrator and story to discuss feminist ideas and issues.

    9. Dr. Seuss’s Lorax (speaks, spoke) for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.

    10. In one of his famous quotes, Lao Tzu (explains, explained) that “the journey of a
    thousand miles begins with a single step.”

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