Wanted. Imagery is wanted
If the verb in the independent clause is in the present tense, the tense that the verb in the indirect quotation should be is <span>remain in its original tense.
</span>You don't have to shift tenses because it is present in the independent one.
For example:
He says: "I need to wash my hair."
He says that he needs to wash his hair.
You wouldn't say - he says that he needed to wash his hair.
In this excerpt from <span><em>Old Times on the Mississippi </em>by Mark Twain, he tells the story of how he began training as a riverboat pilot. In it, he introduces the character of the "cub-engineer". Here, Twain uses his characterization (the way he presents the character) to let us know how much he dislikes this dude. There are many ways in which to describe hair grease, but Twain chose "Oil-hair" (not nice to say). That and his "ignorant silver watch and a showy brass watch-chain" give us more details about how the author perceived this person (not very positively, of course).</span>
