essay tense please help?
if you're writing a research paper and are connecting the topic to a book, if the whole paper is in past tense because it's about history, would you use past tense when summarizing the plot of the story? or describing it? or could you use present because the story is still being read?
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If the book is a fictional story, you should decide if the story is about events in the past or in the present, and use the corresponding tense. With history, even history immediately past, the past tense is most appropriate. But Maria is right about Harry Potter - you can treat stories like this as though they're taking place as the reader reads.
If you are summarizing the events in the book, use past tense, because they are supporting your topic, but if you are trying to explain about the actual book, and not its content, use present tense, because the book is current;y being read.
Usually when summarizing the plot of a book we use present tense:
" Harry Potter is an 11 year old boy who lives with his horrid step family in England."
I would go with past tense. Do whatever suits you best. Later