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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. Literary Present Tense 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.