Obnoxious little formalities you have to pay attention to while writing, such as the literary present. Okay, so I get that when
Solomon Northup wrote something about slavery in his book, he is still saying it and needs to be in present tense, but when something happens in the book, that needs to be in past tense, right? I get really confused--especially in history papers. Also, citations can go to Mordor. I obviously have never experienced slavery, nor have I ever seen it practiced. All the stupid little numbers cluttering up my "beautiful" prose!
