What tense should I write my essay in? Past or present?

[Robert]

In Spanish, we write essays differently. I'm confused about English tenses. When I write about a novel, do I use past tense ("the author wrote") or present ("the author writes")?

My friend said for literature always use present tense because the book still exists. "Hamlet struggles with indecision" not "Hamlet struggled."

For history papers, use past tense because it already happened. "The war began in 1914."

For science, it depends. Methods section is past tense ("we measured"), but conclusions can be present ("these results suggest").

Is this right? English tenses are so hard!

 

[ChakLloyd]

Your breakdown is pretty much perfect, Robert. The only other tricky one is when you're writing about yourself reading the book. Like, "When I encountered this passage, I felt the author's despair." That's past tense for your experience. But then you immediately switch back to present for the author's intent: "She writes with such raw emotion that the reader feels..." It's a weird mix but it works. Don't overthink it too much, you're already ahead of the game.