Download Literary Present Tense (cont`d)

Literary Present Tense
Literary Present Tense
Literary works, paintings, films, and other
artistic creations are assumed to exist in an
eternal present. When you are writing
about writers or artists as they express
themselves in their work, you should stay
in present tense.
 However, when discussing events that are
not directly related to how the artist
expresses him or herself, regular past tense
should be used.
 Most of the time literary present tense
will only be used in the top bun of a
quotation sandwich that introduces a
quote or an idea.
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Literary Present Tense
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The following examples of literary present
tense all involve how people express
themselves:
Jon Krakauer struggles to put his finger on a
defenition of McCandless, writing: “McCandless


was something else- although precisely what is
hard to say”(85).
In his letter to Ron Franz, Alex preaches to the
old man about the virtues of living a
helter-skelter lifestyle (57).
Krakauer explains that McCandless’ decision to
give his parents’ address on a hitchhiking ticket
is an unusual lapse of behavior.
When to use past tense
 When
you are writing about a
particular historical event (even
the creation of a literary or artistic
work), use the past tense.
 Some examples:
 Jon
Krakauer wrote Into the Wild in
1996.
 Chris McCandless was a stubborn
young man and an extreme idealist.
 Gaylord Stuckey was so trustful of the
young man that he gave him his credit
card number and urged Alex to call his
parents.
Literary Present Tense
(cont’d)
 Sometimes
a sentence must
employ both present and past
tense.
 For example: Krakauer spent more
than a year following the footsteps
of Chris McCandless. Explaining
his motive for the book, he writes:
“I was haunted by the vague,
unsettling parallels between
events in his life and those in my
own” (author’s note).
 (Note
that the first verb is
describing an event that occurred in
the past; the second is describing
how the author expresses himself
within his work)
 Examine
your changes of tense
very carefully, however, and see if
there is a logical reason for them.