TYPICAL ERROR In the novel Lord of the Flies, Roger is the main follower of Jack. Roger is very violent and brutal. He was responsible for killing Piggy.
CORRECTION In the novel Lord of the Flies, Roger is the main follower of Jack. Roger is very violent and brutal. He is responsible for killing Piggy.
EXPLANATION If we are recounting events from a story, we have the choice of using past tense or present tense. When we use the present tense for this purpose, this use is called the historic present. The use of the historic present tense gives a story a sense of immediacy - as if the action were actually happening at this very moment. It does not matter if we recount stories all in the past tense or all in the present tense but we must be consistent; otherwise the reader will be confused.
Historic present is a useful tense for students to use when writing critical essays about novels, plays, poems and so on. It is also important to know how to use the present perfect tense if you are going to write in present tense. This is the tense that is also used in news broadcasts:
Heavy rain has caused flash flooding on the Gold Coast.
In present perfect tense, the words has or have are much used. When discussing literature, we might say:
Romeo and Juliet is based on the notion that two families have been feuding for many generations.
Change verbs as necessary in the following to maintain present tense.
aA quarrel ensues. Benvolio, a Montague, arrived and tried to stop the feud, but then Tybalt, a Capulet, arrived and stirred up the fight again.
bIn 'To Kill a Mockingbird', Tom Robinson is on trial for the rape of Mayella Ewell. Mayella's father was a drunk who treated her badly and beat her.
cAs the savage inside him increases, he becomes wilder, more brutal and wanted to try to kill other boys on the island.
dIn the poems 'Outer Suburbs' and 'William Street', the poets have used descriptive and figurative language, which created excellent imagery.
eMacbeth murders King Duncan. However, as soon as he did the deed, he regretted it.
