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Gianaclis asked this question about Demon Copperhead:
Anyone else struggling with how the bulk of the story is in past tense, but then for no apparent reason it switches to present tense for a bit? Is there a point to this or is it sloppy editing? It's driving me batty.
Amy It's called the historical (or narrative or dramatic) present tense. We all tend to do it in speaking, but not so much in writing, although apparently…moreIt's called the historical (or narrative or dramatic) present tense. We all tend to do it in speaking, but not so much in writing, although apparently in Latin it was common. Interestingly, the Wikipedia article on it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histori... - uses David Copperfield (not Demon Copperhead) as it's best and first example. (Another example they give is the Gospel of Mark (in the original Koine Greek.) (less)
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Demon Copperhead
by Barbara Kingsolver
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