Mr. Sheehy’s sample persuasive speech

Persuasive Speech: Books vs. Movies

Specific Purpose: I want to convince people that book versions of stories are better than their movie counterparts.

Introduction

I.  Explain the typical hypothetical situation: you love a book, are excited about a movie, and the movie is terrible.

II.  Thesis: Movie versions of stories simply cannot compare to their book counterparts.

(First, there is the natural and obvious advantage of books: length and depth.)

Body

I.  Books can be longer than movies.

  1. Even the shortest books have to be edited for their movie versions.
  2. Of Mice and Men (example)
  3. Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet) has to be cut down, even though his works were written for theatrical presentation.
  4. When it comes to longer books, so much has to be cut that often the story must be changed.
  5. The Odyssey barely resembles what we read in Homer’s great text.
  6. Often this means they have to cut down a number of characters to just one, so the audience can understand what is happening.
  7. Example: Odyssey: the servants of Penelope
  8. True, some great movies have been made from books.
  9. Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird
  10. Usually, though, when one has read the books of these versions, one gains insight into the characters and situations portrayed by the film—showing the book has still done more.

(Of course, closely related to that depth and length is what books can tell you about characters, and books have a natural advantage over movies when it comes to characterization.)

II.  Books can take you inside a character’s thoughts in ways a film cannot.

  1. Books can use an omniscient narrator or first person narrative to tell you what a character is thinking.
  2. You learn what a character is thinking each time he does something
  3. and can develop sympathy for him.
  4. Film must depend on weighty looks or voice-overs or other silliness to convey those thoughts
  5. Example: Wilson in Cast Away

(Now the greatest advantage a movie has must be considered its imagery, but . . . )

III.  Imagery is a great asset of movies, but a movie can’t capture the whole of imagery like a book.

  1. True, imagery in a movie is wonderful
  2. A great chase scene in Bourne Identity
  3. Cinderella’s dancing across the ballroom floor with Cinderlla
  4. The crawling tentacles of Davey Jones in Pirates of the Carribbean
  5. But imagery is more than the picture. A book can do the other parts better.
  6. Dialog, when done well, is the character and no bad actor can ruin it
  7. Smells, breezes, and great similes can help us relate to each of the images given.

(Now, obviously, people who hate to read are not going to think that books are better. But if they could read, and if they would read . . .)

Conclusion

I.  It becomes clear that when a story is told in both book and movie forms, the movie form cannot truly compare.

II.  In a sense, choosing a book or choosing a movie is like how you choose a person when entering a relationship.

  1. Do you pick the good looking, flashy person who lacks depth and can never, by virtue of his or her container, break beyond that shallowness?
  2. Or do you pick the person with depth, insight, and a thoughtful beauty that might even be considered classic?
  3. The answer, I would suggest, is that though you may look at that movie version and acknowledge it is beautiful for what it is, the book is where you turn when it counts.