Eguria

Direct and indirect speech By Eguriase S. M. Okaka Remember that if you have to report what someone said by using the exact words of the speaker, those words have to be enclosed in quotation marks (inverted commas) and the enclosed material is referred to a direct speech. Very often, however, whenever you report what someone has said, you do not use the exact words of the original speaker. When you do this, you are using indirect speech. There are different reporting verbs to assist you in conveying the main ideas of the original speaker. There are also rules that guide you in changing direct speech (what is reported). You might have forgotten some of the verbs and rules. If so, here is your chance to refresh your memory. Below is a list of common reporting verbs which are usually used in the simple past tense.  Reporting verb + that: admit, deny, request, suggest, warn, argue, say, state, think, announce, explain, etc. Examples The man explained that he had a flat tire.  Repor...

The King’s son and the painted lion By Eguriase S. M. Okaka A king, whose only son was fond of martial exercises had a dream in which he was warned that his son would be killed by a lion. Afraid the dream should prove true, he built for his son a pleasant palace and adorned its walls for his amusement with all kinds of life-sized animals, among which was the picture of a lion. When the young prince saw this, his grief at being thus confined burst out afresh and standing near the lion, he said: ‘O you most detestable of animals! Through a lying dream of my father’s which he saw in his sleep, I am shut up on your account in this palace as if I had been a girl: what shall I now do to you? With these words, he stretched out his hands towards a thorn-tree, meaning to cut a stick from its branches so that he might beat the lion. But one of the tree’s prickles pierced his finger and caused great pain and inflammation, so that the young prince fell down in a fainting fit. A violent fever su...

Consequences of negative peer pressure By Eguriase S. M. Okaka Peer pressure is a social pressure exerted by members of one’s peer group to take a specific action, adopt particular values, or otherwise conform in order to be accepted. Almost every youth has experienced peer pressure at one time or the other in their life. Peer pressure can be either negative or positive. Positive peer pressure comprises doing physical exercise, playing football or other sports, joining a vocational club or a charity organization to help the needy. There are three kinds of peer pressure: direct, indirect and individual. Direct pressure occurs when a teenager or a group of teenagers tells another teenager what to do. Indirect pressure is optical pressure. This happens when a teenager hangs out with a group of friends who drink liquor or smoke marijuana. Having been exposed to this kind of negative practice, the teenager may think it is okay. Individual peer pressure occurs when a teenager struggles h...