Local Revision: Tense Usage

 This blog will further review the verbs I used in my first project by examining past, present, and future tenses.

                        

                      Past                                              Present                                         Future

referred obtained placed adapted killed caught preserved gathered stripped injected implanted became was - 12 carried lived - 3 died - 3 raised brought - 2 cloned has called adapted would intertwined happened invaded issued signed attended - 2 received acquired reassured slaughtered

cloning reproducing try - 2 "de-extinct" think happening bringing is – 14 revive be – 2 born causing breathe die consider means have limits speak - 3 understand looks dresses want present known split compare are - 4 lives have - 4 resemble frozen born – 2 choosing killing overshadow receive – 2 further claims become goes asks telling extract

will allow

Q: Which tense is the most prevalent in your draft?
A: The present tense is the most prevalent in my draft.

Q: What effect or tone/quality does the current usage of tense have on the reader/viewer/listener?
A: Present tense verbs allows the reader to connect with the writing. It puts them in the moment with the story and makes it more relatable to whomever is reading. This allows me, the writer, to better engage with the audience by not only telling them this story but also including them in it.

Q: If you're using more than one tense in the draft (which is not a bad thing at all), do the shifts between different tenses in the piece make sense? How do they flow? Are there any jarring or dischordant shifts in tense?

A: My piece does go back and forth between present and past tense verbs. It flows well because I employ past tense verbs to explain the situation and what was going on during the time of the big event in my controversy while then pulling the reader back to the present and relating the controversy to today.

Q: If you have not employed any present tense verbs in your piece - why not? Are there any moments of crescendo or dramatic action in the story you're telling that could benefit from being described or told in the present tense? Could your piece benefit from that technique? How and why?
A: My piece contains mostly present tense verbs

duncan c. "Tense graffiti, Haygate Estate, Elephant & Castle" 06/29/2013 via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic