Argumentative Essay on Are Movies Better Than Books?

Introduction

For many centuries before the development of modern technologies, literature was enshrined in books an novels. Generally, the history of written literature (novel) dates backs to the third century A.D. in the Heliodorus times. They were developed as more formal genres but were only limited to a selected few in the societies (Dean, 2009). Notably, education was more class-oriented than universally accessible as it is the case today. As a result, only the privileged could gain the needed literacy to read novels. Advancement in technology has seen a paradigm shift from novels as the sole source of literature to development of movies. Currently, thousands and thousands of movies have been produced as a product of industrial work. Interestingly, most of these movies have borrowed a lot and others entirely produced based on novels. Consequently, cinema has become the most popular form of art, far much better compared to movies. Cinema has been as a result of modern civilizations by different cultures. Critically assessing the comparison between movie and books, movies are far much better as compared to books.

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Visual Appeal: The Advantage of Movies over Novels

One of the fascination advantages of movies over novels is their visual appeal. As opposed to the traditional presentation of literature, movies have not only audio appeal, but also visual appeal, which is more appealing than the traditional form. When we talk about the visual appeal, we specifically mean the audio-visual feature of movies, since most novels had images which accounted for the visual aspect. History has proven over and over again that most cultures were more oriented on the visual aspect of works of art as compared to reading. The American culture, for example, the very first best selling work of art has illustrated the book. These were Hieroglyphikes (1638) and Emblems (1635) by Francis Quarles which were matched with allegorical illustrations together with bible quotations. These became the best emblem books produced both in America and England in English (Dean, 2009). These facts prove that man for a very long time was more inclined towards the visual aspect of art.

Secondly, movies are far much better from books as they offer a more realistic appeal to the audience as opposed to imagination. It allows the audience not only to interact with the sound, but also the visual representations of the character, places, and objects. In explaining the differences between film and novels, the philosopher C. S. Peirce uses two terms; sign and icon, to relate two different things that represent another thing or object. Sign in his view, refers to an arbitrary relationship between two objects (Bo, 2008). For example, a world "desk" can be a sign of a desk. On the other hand, a picture of a flower, which is closer to a desk than the word "desk," can be an icon of the flower. Therefore, the film is made of the icon while novels are made of signs as mediums of representation (Bo, 2008). Consequently, the images visible in a film offer a more immediate relationship with what it describes as compared to words. They hence offer reality more intelligible and more directly. More importantly, the twenty-first century has greatly changed the perception of learners, especially literature students, than in any other given centuries. Different generations have been discussed, the current one being generation Z. In teaching and learning for people born in this generation, realism is more appealing as opposed to idealism (Reeves & Oh, n.d.). Hence, the use of film will be more appealing as compared to books in such a competent technological generation. These features make it easier to understand movies better than books.

Realistic Representation: Movies vs. Imagination in Books

Moreover, movies greatly enhance the audience's comprehension through sounds as compared to books. Audiences in movies are able to receive both sounds and images, while book readers are limited to just the text. In films, sounds can be classified into three types, music, speech and noise. In most instances, even one of the three sounds can tell a story in a clearer and more realistic way as compared to novels (Bo, 2008). The sounds in the movies are able to create an environment where the audience is able to feel and understand characters emotions in a clearer manner. For example, in an instance when there is a description of a sad experience, music can be used together with cries that are visible to the audience in a film. This, in turn, enhances the audience to relate more to the movie by understanding the mood in the movie. Further, some attitudes and emotions can fail to appeal to the reader. Conversely, use of words, facial expressions and use of sounds help the audience in a film to come into a position where they understand and relate with the character in a more vivid manner. The magic behind it is that films can actually duplicate sounds together with images in real life directly and immediately. While a novel writer is limited to using silent words in the description, a film director uses excited conversations, fantastic music, joyful laughter, and all kinds of noise to present and description more clearly and realistically (Bo, 2008). These advantages from the sound feature make films a multilayered and hence more powerful in the creation of reality than it is possible in a novel or a book.

Movies in Language Teaching: Communication, Non-Verbal Aspects, and Cross-Cultural Comparison

In language teaching, using movies and film in teaching language and literature is more appealing as it facilitates learning through communication, non-verbal aspects, motivation, and cross-cultural comparison. Therefore, the use of film as complementary materials in literature becomes more efficient and easier. Unlike the use of books, a class is made livelier with the use of cinema. The students are in a position to visually interact with the characters cultures and the customs of the people in the film. Most importantly, nonverbal aspects such as posture, expressions, dressing, gestures, and surroundings are made more eloquent for learners. It is not possible for the learner to understand the use of these nonverbal aspects of communications in real communication unless if they actually see them in actual use (Bo, 2008). Thus, learning materials with visual elements become more appealing and meaningful in helping the students to interact and understand the real world more clearly in the classroom context.

Although a great debate arises on the narrative advantage of movies over books, it is indisputable that narrative in films is clearer than it is in books. Due to the iconic nature of movies, it can be seen more of a tale without a teller. In other words, while novels tell people the story, the films show people the story. This difference makes the whole difference in the aspect of movie narration. Notably, novels are narrated in all tenses, either by an omniscient narrator (someone outside the novel) or by the first person. On the other hand, most movies are from an omniscient point of view, as film directors are able to direct what the audience is able to see and hear. By this very nature, visual images in movies clearly display what things are happening to the audience as they watch (Bo, 2008). For example, the famous scene from Rebbeca, a famous film in 1998, the narrator is a young girl who has just become a second wife to Maxim de Winter. The narration in the first two pages of the book explains Rebecca's terror and awkwardness is clearer in the movie simply when Mrs. Danvers emerges the first time with her severe face lit from the shadows. This presentation makes the audience cringe with the same fear felt by the new Mrs. De Winter (Rebecca) (Davies, n.d). In other words, narration in movies is clearer and more engaging as compared to books.

Despite the many advantages of movies over novels, the limited times in which novels are presented is one of the few shortcomings of using movies over books. Generally, films are acted and presented to the viewers in two hours or so. This time is limited as compared to written books. Novels and books allow the readers to have an unlimited imagination and explore their own reality as they read the book. Conversely, this is limited in movies as the reality presented in the movies depends on the sole interpretation of the screenwriter. For example, expression of a statement, "he angrily dashed out of the room" could have different appeal in movies and books. In a book, the reader is able to create personal imagination based on his/her own experience and hence relate more to the statement, as compared to a film, where the acted form limits imagination (Davies, n.d.). However, this sole advantage of books over movies cannot dispute the fact that to a greater extent, movies are far much better than books.

Conclusion

In conclusion, an adaptation of films from movies has been clearly evident from the twentieth century. Critical analysis of the different aspects evident in movies clearly shows that movies are better than books by far. First, the visualization of scenes and characters in the movies gives the audience a chance to create and relate to the author's reality more directly and more immediate. Secondly, viewers are in a better position to interact with a more realistic aspect of the story as opposed to mare imagination. Further, the use of different types of sounds greatly enhances the viewer's comprehension of the story more clearly than readers of novels and books are able to do. The teaching of language, especially the nonverbal communication aspect is made clearer to the audience and hence teaching and learning of language becomes easy and efficient. Finally, narration in movies, though limited in tense, is more real and more appealing as compared to books. Despite the limited scope of imagination and time of presentation of a story in movies, it is undeniable that movies are greatly advantageous to the audience than books.

References

Bo, B. (2008). The differences between novels and films -Enhance literature teaching by using films. US-China Education Review, 5(7). Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502579.pdf

Davies, A. (n.d.). ADAPTATION: FROM NOVEL TO FILM. MASTERPIECE THEATRE. Retrieved from https://d2buyft38glmwk.cloudfront.net/media/cms_page_media/11/FITC_Adaptation_1.pdf

Dean, J. (2009). Adapting History and Literature into Movies. Americas Studies Journal. doi:10.18422/53-07