Works of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare(1564--1616) is an English playwright and poet.He is generally considered the greatest dramatist the world has ever known and the finest poet who has written in the English Language. Shakespeare has also been the world's most popular author.Reasons for the broad appeal of Shakespeare's plays include his understanding of human nature, credibility of his characters and the verisimilitude of his expositions. He could see in a specific dramatic situation the qualities that relate to all human beings. He could thus create characters that have meaning beyond the time and place of his plays. His characters are individual human beings.They struggle just as people do in real life, sometimes successfully, and sometimes with painful and tragic failure.

Shakespeare's versatility accounts for his knowledge in a wide variety of all other subjects which include music,the law,the Bible, military science, the stage art, politics, sea, history, hunting, woodcraft and sports. His plays has enormous influence on culture throughout the world. His works have helped to shape the literature of all English speaking countries. Many words and phrases from Shakespeare's plays and poems have become part of everyday speech like this phrase....'To be or not to be' . Today they are used by millions of people who are unaware that Shakespeare created them.

English Grammar--Adverb Clauses

We shall start this article by defining an adverb. What is an adverb? An adverb is a part of speech that modifies a verb, an adjective and another adverb. For example, 'The Tempters manifest Becket's former desires whose enticements to the wrong thing are quickly dismissed ,leaving Becket to face his real struggle which is the temptation to do the right thing for thr wrong reason..Here 'quickly' is an adverb modifying the verb 'dismissed'. Again in the sentence , 'The man is very strong', 'very' is an adverb modifying the predicative adjective 'strong'.It is so called because it is a part of the predicate. Thirdly, an adverb modifies another adverb for example , 'He ran so fast that he fell down'. Here 'so' is an adverb modifying another adverb 'fast'.

Adverb clauses are introduced by such words as 'when,where, since, though, although, after, so, till, and until'. Examples of adverb clauses are: When oil prices soar, the masses suffer. They refused to go until they were paid their full salaries.The strike was called off when the government agreed to meet the demands of the striking workers. For more on grammatical functions, consult the author at this email....amekepaul@yahoo.com

Parental Influence on Career Choice

Societal expectations sometimes form the basis for how parents influence the career choice of their children. Such professions like medicine, law, engineering are highly regarded in society. There is therefore the temptation to force a child into doing one of the above courses.But it is a bad educational policy to force a child to do a course for which he or she does not have aptitude. Conducting of aptitude test becomes the best way of selecting pupils and students to pursue any course in higher education.

Certain family variables such as economic status of parents may also affect the career choice of a child. For instance a student may have a flair for mathematics and other related courses, which places him in a better position to do courses such as engineering. But if the parents do not have money enough to finance the training in such a course, they may tell him or her to do Mathematics single honours which they can finance. But regardless of parental and societal expectations, the individual should be allowed to discover his needs, values and aspirations to shape his career choice. They should not be forced into doing a course they do not have aptitude for.

English Tense Forms---The Present Tense

Tense is a change in the form of a word to show time. Thew present tense shows the action that is happening now.For example : They blow the whistle. John blows the whistle.He blows the whistle.She blows the whistle. Okolo and Okeke blow the whistle.

The above five sentences show the present simple tense for what happens regularly or everyday.Note the form of the verbs in each sentence. In the first sentence ' blow' is present tense with plural subject' they'. In the second sentence , 'blows' is present tense with singular subject 'John'. In the third sentence, 'blows' is also present tense with pronoun 'he' which is third person singular. In the fourth sentence 'blows' is also present tense with singular subject 'she' which is also third person singular. In number five sentence above the plural subject 'Okolo and Okeke' has the plural verb 'blow' accordingly.

The next sentence 'I blow the whistle' shows the formation of the simple present tense with the personal pronoun 'I ' . For more online lessons on this aspect of English consult the author using the email below
amekepaul@yahoo.com

Money and Banking

The arguement whether banking originated from China or from England is not of much significance. The important thing is that commercial banking arose from the activities of goldsmiths who had facilties such as sfes for the safe-keeping of valuables. Merchants and other people who had valuables(especially precious metals such as gold and silver which were used as money) deposited them with goldsmiths.They, therefore, performed an important function of commercial banks--the acceptance of deposits. At first they charged the merchants and other depositors some fees for performing these functions for them.

In exchange for valuables deposited, the goldsmith issued receipts for various weights of valuables deposited. The valuables deposited were to be repaid on the presentation of the receipts. Thew person or merchant who deposited the valuables found out tht he could use the receipts issued to him by the goldsmith to make purchase. The receipts therefore later became means of payments. The merchant who now receives the receipts from the depositor could present the receipts to the gold smith to claim the valuables. On the other hand he could use the receipts to make other purchases. Whoever presents the receipts to the goldsmith is given the valuables worth the amount on the receipts. Since the receipts issued by the goldsmiths were used as money, they became the first issuers of bank notes, a function which was originally performed by commercial banks.From the foregoing we can see immediately the origin of commercial banks.

Law of Evidence

The concept of the law of evidence has come a long way. This aspect of the law is based on a very important aspect of the legal practice and profession. It is said in legal parlance that the accused is presumed innocent until proved guilty.The main point in this aspect of law is to save the society from undue embarrassment emanating from accusationsand counter accusations.In fact the law of evidence has placed the onus of proof on the prosecutor. So it lies the shoulders of the prosecution to prove his case beyond all reasonble doubts.

In this case again the law talks about the burden of proof . The burden of proof lies entirely on the shoulders of the prosecutor. If some one is arraigned for a certain offence,the prosecutor has to tender some pieces of evidence in court to support his case.The exhibitsmust be tendered in court to buttress the charges . Otherwise the court can declare the accused discharged and acquitted.As mentioned earlier the aim of this law of evidence is to maintain order in society, to avoid a state of anarchy which can result in the absence of law evidence. Individuals in legal practice should be very mindful of adherence to this aspect of the law, especially the Judges and Magistrates on whose shoulder it lies to decide cases by the evidence before them.

The School and Local Community

The school has a lot to contribute to the local community where it is situated. First such a community automatically becomes the cathment area of the school. For instance, a primary school in any given community forms the place of learning for the pupils born in that community. This is advantageous because siting schools near communities saves the children the agony of having to travel long distances for their education.

Even in the universities there are certain percentages allotted to the prospective students of the university.The can only be adequately prepared for life in his particular community and his society if the educational programme to which he is exposed is relevant to the problems, needs and aspirations of the community and society.It is in this respect that the inherited colnial system of education was found wanting and for which it was severely criticized by both the Nigerian nationalists and outside bodies.The school that time was therefore alienated from the community it was supposed to be serving.Educational administrators were concerned mainly with maintaining a secure school environment where the teachers teach their lessons and pupils
learn.They were oblivious of the needs and aspirations of the community where the school situates.The school must take into account the needs of the society that gave birth to it.

Love and Marriage

The first step in a sucessful relationship is sincerity.Avoid pretensions of any kind whatsoever. As is said that first impression is ever lasting, I want to tell you what to do on your first date. Do not tell the lady that you are what you are not.Let her know your true financial position.Do not tell her that you are very rich when you know that you are not.If you do that you will not be able to discover whether she loves you or not on this first date.The point being made here is that every man or woman will be very careful on this first date because any mistake at this initial stage may make or mar your marriage. True relationship must be basd on true love. To achieve this let the lady know you as you are.Present your natural self. If the person likes you as you are then two of you can really build a loving and enduring relationship.

Tell her words to explain your person in unambiguos language.After the explanation of yourself and the lady says that she accepts you as you are then you are well on your way to an enduring relationship.This becaus you have known your positions and accepted yourselves as you are.Then proceed with showing her love by little, little gifts such as surprise gifts, flowers which
is a symbol of love. Arrange meetings for social interactions and helping to solve each other's problems until you are ready to solemnize your relationship by going to the altar.
Youngsters love responsibly following the advice above.

Educational Planning

Educational planning is the sum total of all efforts made to improve education.The 6..33..4 system of education was a clear government effort to achieve the objectives national policy on education. The policy is derived from the five main natinal goals which are the building of a just and egalitarian society, a free and democratic society, a virile and dynamic economy, and a land full of bright opportunities for all citizens. In order to achieve the above objectives,the Nigerian educational planners enunciated that one of the educational goals must be the training of the mind in the understanding of the world around, two the acquisition of necessary skills and competences as necessary equipment to enable the individual to function well in society and contribute to the development of his state,Various African nations have made giant strides in expanding their educational systems. For instance, Nigeria later changed from 6..333..4 system to 9..3..4 .That is six years at the primary school, three years at Junior Secondary , three years at Senior Secondary and four years in the university.All these efforts are attempts to improve education.

Some of the African countries have expanded their systems especially at the primary school level since the 1961 Addis Ababa Conference.This Conference set the target of achieving free and compulsory universal primary education by the year 1980.

Science and Technology...Research

Methods of scientific inquiry and research are treated in this article. Methods of scientific inquiry include identification of the problem,formulation of hypothesis, collection, organisation and analysis ofd data,drawing of scintific conclusions and verification, rejection or modification of the hypothesis by the test of its consequences in a specific situation.

Scientific research follow this process and it is defined as a systematic,controlled,empirical and unbiased investigation of the hypothetical propositions about the assumed relationships between the variables that create a particular state of affairs.It also emphasises the method of collecting and analysing quantitative data. It emphasizes also a rational approach in which logical and deductive reasoning are primary. It begins with a set of ideas that direct the effort and with a goal that entails the development or testing of theory.Its approach is rigorous and systematic.

We shall briefly explain each of the steps in the process of scintific thinking or investigation.The first step in scintific process is identification and definition of the problem.This is the stage where
an individual comes across a question that puzzles him or her.For instance in medical science a doctor might encounter a problem of a patient with constant malaria cases. He has to identify the
cause of the ailment by carrying out a diagnostic test on the patient after which he will be able to offer adequate treatment.

The third stage is formulation of hypothesis.This is scintific guess emanating from known facts. It is proposed explanation of the possible cause of the problem.It is a scientific guess.For he can try to find solution through more inquiry.Data collection,organisation and analysis of data is the next step.Finally the researcher analysis his data and draws conclusion about the solution of the problem .

English Grammatical Concord

English grammatical concord is very important for correct English usage.This article focuses on the correct verbal agreement between subject and its verb. First let us look at the types of nouns. We have common nouns which are those names that are common to things or people of the same sort. There are abstract nouns which are nouns that depict state, action or quality for example, poverty,knowledge,strength,length and so on.We have collective nouns which are nouns that belong to a group.In other words a collective noun is a group noun for example,family, crowd,flock and herd.
English grammatical concord means the agreement between the verb and its subject in number and person.There are different types of concord as shown in the following sentences.
Grammatical concord.
The men are here. If two or more items are connected by ' and' a plural verb is used. For example,The man and his pet have been seen.The secretary and the accountant are here. But when they refer to the same person use singular.The secretary and the accountant is here. Bread and butter is favourite breakfast.They are eaten together as one meal.
Concord with correlative conjunctions
The correlative conjunctions often used to join subjects are, ' as well as, together with, along with,
either...or, neither... nor' . For example, the carpenter as well as his apprentice is here. The lawyers as well as the judge are here. In the preceding sentences the verb agrees with the first subject. Chibuzo together with his children is here.This means that Chibuzo is here with his children. Again the children with their father are here.This means that the children are here with
their father.

Good English

The art of speaking good English requires constant practice and the speaker must also be reading a variety of books written in good English.The following passage will help to elucidate what I mean:
The participation of African women in the political processes of their respective communities is an area that has attracted much scholarly attention.While some works have focused on women's roles in indigenous African political organization, others have traced the history of their engagement in politics from the colonial period to decolonisation and the achievement of independence.From the corpus of literature on the participation of African women in politics,we can delineate two opposing paradigms: one that hinges largely on the romanticization of African women's political history before European colonial domination, and another that emphasizes their political subordination and invisibility..According to the former paradigm, women had enormous political power in their various societies until the imposition of European colonial rule and the Victorian gender ethos, when such power was undermined or entirely eroded. The latter paradigm holds that the current relatively marginal involvement of African women in political process can best be explained by the lingering inhibitive cultural and patriarchal forces against women's engagement in politics that characterised African societies before European contact. The answer to the question of how much political power and control African women had and have continued to exercise does not lie in either of the two paradigms listed above. Rather,it lies somewhere between them,irrespective of the particular society one focuses on.It is important that any true assessment of the role of women in politics must look at the major arenas of political power and authority as well as how gender roles were played out in such theatres.
Both men and women wielded political power and authority9( though in different degrees) in precolonial Igbo society,where social roles and responsibilities were the channels through which power diffused, and where gender equality was measured in comparative worth.Hierarchical relationships in Igbo society were determined by age, experience, ability, marital status, and rites of initiation.

The English grammar in the above passage is what any learnerof English should imitate .I shall give more points on grammar in my next article.