WHICH IS CORRECT? (Watch the tense shift.)

"She sometimes needed reminders to keep the talk focused on the novel. Her art demonstrates her ability to reflect on fictional characters. Her self-portrait as a mouse is a dramatic composition, inspired by Despereaux." OR "She sometimes needed reminders to keep the talk focused on the novel. Her art demonstrated her ability to reflect on fictional characters. Her self-portrait as a mouse was a dramatic composition, inspired by Despereaux."

AND "She revels in the chance to interact with friends, but often needed reminders to stay on task." OR "She reveled in the chance to interact with friends, but often needed reminders to stay on task."


Help! I'm confused. In the first example, her self-portrait is still in existence, and we can talk about it. It doesn't exist in the past as do her actions in class. In the second example, it's a similar scenario in that she IS (and remains) a child whose personality revels in the chance to interact with friends, but the need for reminders existed in the past since it happened already and I'm reporting on its occurrence.

I think you are over-complicating things for yourself. Consider the fact that everything can be viewed as past tense, since the very act of reporting on it in the written word means it has already happened, and you'll see how simple it all is.

Thanks.