Quote:
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Originally Posted by lawrenceMcCambridge-audin I am told the students must use only the present tense when writing essays discussing literature. |
Hmm. I wouldn't say, "only". When writing about literature, the convention is to use the Literary or Historical Present e.g., Shakespeare
says, not Shakespeare
said, to (a) express a fact/a general truth, (b) draw the reader in, and (c) make the argument present.
Click
here to read more and try searching under the terms literary present and historical present.
[Edited to make link work - Shane]