Local Revision: Tense Usage

Now that  a verb list has been made, it's time to categorize them into present tense, past tense, and future tense columns.

Robbimuffin.  "EGG Present simple" 5/2008 via Wikimedia.  Create Commons Attribution license.

Past Tense:

would - 6
could - 2
should - 3
have - 9
able - 3
unable
passed
permitted - 3
began
assembled
discussed
remarked
published
reignited
lead - 2
allowed
performed
leads
concerned
received
been - 8
decided - 2
has - 16


Present Tense:

are - 22
is - 29
being
benefit - 2
carry - 4
taking
replacing
create - 2
produce
permit
outweigh
dissent
altering
conjure
response
detailing
issue
produce
save
met - 2
pass - 2
crossing
experimentation - 2
born
playing
alterations
make
go
perform - 2
making
contact
opposing
cite
citing
be - 6




Future Tense:

will
won't
be - 6




1. Which tense is the most prevalent in your draft?

The most prevalent tense in my draft is the present tense, followed by past tense.

2. What effect or tone/quality does the current usage of tense have on the reader/viewer/listener?

The use of present tense demonstrates how the controversy hasn't been settled and is still ongoing.  It shows that the controversy is still relevant today.

3. 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 discordant shifts in tense?

I believe the shifts in tense make sense, because the contextual details building up to the big event should be in past tense, and then events after the big event should be present tense because the effects are still happening today.