ABSTRACT
Like much of language, much of the organization of oral narrative is out of awareness. Nessa Wolfson made a pioneering contribution in this respect, tracing use of the historical present in conversation. Many speakers are aware that in English a change into the present tense may dramatize what is said, convey immediacy: instead of ‘And then I saw…’, ‘And then I see…’. What may not be realized is that there are occurrences in narrative that cannot be explained that way. That whatever else may be the case, switching into and out of the historical present may mark the beginning and end of a part of what is being said. The changing itself segments. It may organize narrative, unconsciously so.
