dragn
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 450
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 Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:44 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
According to a literary review, Shakespeare _____ his characters live through their language in his plays.
A. will make B. had made C. was making D. makes
The answer is D. But shouldn't we use past tense instead since Shakespeare is a late or past-time person? |
No, use of present tense is standard and correct here. This is sometimes called the historical present or the literary present, and possibly other names. Since we're talking about literature, let's go with literary present.
Any time we talk about what happens in a book, we normally use present tense. It doesn't matter that the author actually wrote the words in the past: it's as if all the dialogue and events in the book exist out of the flow of time. For example, even though Shakespeare wrote Hamlet over four hundred years ago, the famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy comes alive once again in the mind of each individual who reads those words at the moment they read them.
The same applies to the what the author does in a book: the way he writes; the way he handles certain characters or situations, etc. We normally talk about it in present tense. Just as the actual events and dialogue exist out of the flow of time, so does every device and technique the author uses.
| Quote: |
| What does the sentence mean? |
It basically means that according to a review, the language used by Shakespeare's characters reveals a lot about their nature, motives, personality, etc. Something like that, more or less.
Greg
Last edited by dragn on Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total |
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