SELECT trim(DECODE(ROWNUM,1,SUBSTR(STR,1,INSTR(STR,' ',1)),
                                    LENGTH(STR)-LENGTH(REPLACE(STR,' '))+1,SUBSTR(STR,INSTR(STR,' ',-1,1)),
                                     SUBSTR(STR,INSTR(STR,' ',1,ROWNUM-1), INSTR(STR,' ',1,ROWNUM)-INSTR(STR,' ',1,ROWNUM-1))
                               ))  STR1
                 FROM (SELECT 'Jody E Mcquire' STR FROM DUAL),ALL_TABLES
                 WHERE ROWNUM <= LENGTH(STR)-LENGTH(REPLACE(STR,' '))+1
                  ORDER BY ROWNUM

SQL> SELECT substr('Jody E Mcquire',1,instr('Jody E Mcquire',' ')-1) first FROM dual;

FIRST
-----
Jody

SQL> SELECT substr('Jody E Mcquire',instr('Jody E Mcquire',' ',1,2)+1) last FROM dual;

LAST
-------
Mcquire