# English Teachers: When Evaluating Fiction...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-teachers-when-evaluating-fiction/205475>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 4, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-teachers-when-evaluating-fiction/205475 "2003-10-04T01:30:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-teachers-when-evaluating-fiction/205475/1 "2003-10-04T01:30:56Z")

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I cannot recall, but maybe the Sdopers can refresh my memory: When writing an essay or composition about a ficitional work for an English class…are such papers written in the past or present tense? Because it is fiction, I want to say it is ALWAYS discussed in the present…but past tense sounds correct, too! Dang, which is it?

Maybe an English teacher will come along soon…

- Jinx

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**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-teachers-when-evaluating-fiction/205475/2 "2003-10-04T02:31:49Z")

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English teacher speaking! And your instinct is correct – fiction is discussed in the present tense. Unless, of course, you’re talking about something mentioned in the work that’s already happened when it starts: “Claudius murdered the King and married the Queen, so the King’s ghost returns to warn Hamlet.” Badly written example, I grant you, but it serves our purposes well enough. 😉