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This is called literary present tense and is used regardless of the tense in which the text
Pride and Prejudice is written in past tense, but to describe the novel, I’d say, “Elizabeth
” Literary present tense may seem baffling because many books take place over a long period
Literary present tense makes discussions of books less confusing and keeps them fresh and relevant
” Annotated editions aside, most books don’t change much — if at all — after they’re published
People can reread passages or re-watch TV or movie scenes at any time
Even though it doesn’t change over time, the action is treated as ongoing because it’s
Even when engaging with nonfiction, I write, “The author argues that…” A book may have been published
The Vanderbilt page also points out that historical events, such as publication dates, should be referenced in
As long as it’s clear which events are real and which are fictional, both tenses can
For example: Janie Crawford is the protagonist of Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937
Most writers alter the tense with brackets only when incorporating a quote into their own sentence
My high school English teachers taught me to use it, and my English professors confirmed it
So, I’m writing from my own experience as a writer with a BA in English
The Modern Language Association’s style guide gives many helpful examples of literary present tense
Historians, in contrast, often prefer to describe all historical texts in the past tense
Literary present tense simplifies the task of describing fiction
This may sound counterintuitive because conventions can be difficult to remember and follow
In May 2022, when I wrote a brief introduction to literary point of view for BR, I focused
Many books have complicated timelines and switch tenses frequently
The literary present tense eliminates the need to keep track of all those changes when describing fiction
Sentences like “After a shipwreck, the protagonist is marooned” summarize a chronology of events without switching tenses
The language in fiction, including shifts in tense, can be layered and nuanced
Ideally, this should allow readers and writers to focus on analysis, instead of worrying about juggling relative
Internal consistency is the most important, especially in the same sentence or paragraph
The MLA style guide page advises editors not to change writers’ tenses unless they know whether the
Literary present tense’s purpose is ease and clarity for readers and writers