Title: ____________________
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The Hazards of Moviegoing
By
John Langan
From College Writing Skills with
Introductory paragraph (Thesis) |
I am a
movie fanatic. When friends want to know what picture won the Oscar in 1980
or who played the police chief in Jaws, they ask me. My friends, though, have
stopped asking me if I want to go out to the movies. The
problems in getting to the theatre, the theatre itself, and the behaviour of
some patrons are all reasons why I often wait for a movie to show up on TV. |
First supporting paragraph |
First of
all, just getting to the theatre presents difficulties. Leaving a home
equipped with a TV and a video recorder isn't an attractive idea on a humid,
cold, or rainy night. Even if the weather cooperates, there is still a
thirty-minute drive to the theatre down a congested highway, followed by the
hassle of looking for a parking space. And then there are the lines. After
hooking yourself to the end of a human chain, you worry about whether there
will be enough tickets, whether you will get seats together, and whether many
people will sneak into the line ahead of you. |
Second supporting paragraph |
Once you
have made it to the box office and gotten your tickets, you are confronted
with the problems of the theatre itself. If you are in one of the run-down
older theatres, you must adjust to the musty smell of seldom-cleaned carpets.
Escaped springs lurk in the faded plush or cracked leather seats, and half
the seats you sit in seem loose or tilted so that you sit at a strange angle.
The newer twin and quad theatres offer their own problems. Sitting in an area
only one-quarter the size of a regular theatre, moviegoers often have to put
up with the sound of the movie next door. This is especially jarring when the
other movie involves racing cars or a karate war and you are trying to enjoy
a quiet love story. And whether the theatre is old or new, it will have
floors that seem to be coated with rubber cement. By the end of a movie,
shoes almost have to be pried off the floor because they have become sealed
to a deadly compound of spilled soda, hardening bubble gum, and crushed Ju-Jubes. |
Third supporting paragraph |
Some of
the patrons are even more of a problem than the theatre itself. Little kids
race up and down the aisles, usually in giggling packs. Teenagers try to
impress their friends by talking back to the screen, whistling, and making
what they consider to be hilarious noises. Adults act as if they were at home
in their own living rooms and comment loudly on the ages of the stars or why
movies aren't as good anymore. And people of all ages crinkle candy wrappers,
stick gum on their seats, and drop popcorn tubs or cups of crushed ice and
soda on the floor. They also cough and burp, squirm endlessly in their seats,
file out for repeated trips to the rest rooms or concession stand, and elbow
you out of the armrest on either side of your seat. |
Concluding paragraph |
After
arriving home from the movies one night, I decided that I was not going to be
a moviegoer anymore. I was tired of the problems involved in getting to the
movies and dealing with the theatre itself and some of the patrons. The next
day I arranged to have cable TV service installed in my home. I may now see
movies a bit later than other people, but I'll be more relaxed watching box
office hits in the comfort of my own living room. |
This
is in relation to "The Hazards of Movie going"
Title: The Hazards of Moviegoing
|