Concrete vs Abstract Thinking: What’s the Difference? Voice Over Script
Characters:
Maria (Hispanic girl, age 10)
Jaden (African American boy, age 11)
Narrator (voice-over)
Scene 1: The Playground – Maria and Jaden are sitting on a bench, eating snacks after school.
Maria: (looking at the clouds) Hey Jaden, doesn’t that cloud look like a bunny?
Jaden: (squinting) Hmm… maybe, but I just see a regular old cloud.
Maria: You’ve got to use your imagination! You know, picture it in your mind.
Jaden: (grinning) I guess you’re using abstract thinking.
Maria: Abstract thinking? What’s that?
Narrator: (voice-over) Great question, Maria! Let’s talk about abstract thinking and concrete thinking.
Jaden: (pretending to be a teacher) Ahem! Well, you see, Maria, concrete thinking is when you think about things that are right in front of you—stuff you can see, touch, and feel.
Maria: Like this bench we’re sitting on?
Jaden: Exactly! And these snacks we’re eating. They’re real, right here in front of us. That’s concrete thinking!
Maria: Oh! So concrete thinking is all about things we can see or touch. What about abstract thinking?
Jaden: Abstract thinking is when we use our imagination or think about ideas that aren’t physically there, like when you said that cloud looks like a bunny.
Narrator: (voice-over) Jaden’s right! Abstract thinking helps us imagine things, solve problems, and understand ideas that aren’t always obvious.
Scene 2: The Bench – Maria is deep in thought.
Maria: (thoughtful) So, concrete thinking is about stuff we can touch, like this bench, and abstract thinking is using our imagination, like seeing shapes in the clouds.
Jaden: (nodding) Yep! Let me give you another example. (holding up an apple) This apple is something I can touch. It’s real. What kind of thinking is that?
Maria: (enthusiastically) Concrete thinking!
Jaden: Right! Now, if I think about what the apple means—like if it represents being healthy or the idea of sharing—that’s abstract thinking.
Maria: Oh, I get it! So, abstract thinking is more about the ideas behind things, and concrete thinking is just about what you can see or feel.
Scene 3: Maria and Jaden walking home together.
Maria: (excited) I have an idea! Let’s play a game where we give examples of both! I’ll go first! (points to the street) The street is made of concrete. That’s…concrete thinking!
Jaden: (laughing) Nice one, Maria! Okay, your turn for abstract.
Maria: (thinks for a moment) Umm… the street could represent going on a new adventure, like starting something new in life!
Jaden: That’s awesome! That’s abstract thinking because you’re using the street to talk about something bigger than what we can see.
Maria: Your turn!
Jaden: (looks around and points at a bird) That bird is real. It’s concrete thinking.
Maria: (nodding) What about abstract?
Jaden: Hmm… the bird could represent freedom or dreams, like flying high to reach your goals!
Maria: Wow, I never thought about it like that! Abstract thinking is pretty cool!
Scene 4: At Maria’s house.
Maria: (waving goodbye) Thanks for teaching me about concrete and abstract thinking, Jaden! I’m going to start practicing both every day!
Jaden: (grinning) You’ll be a pro in no time. Just remember—sometimes we need to think about what’s right in front of us, and sometimes we need to use our imagination to see the bigger picture!
Narrator: (voice-over) Great job, Jaden and Maria! Understanding concrete and abstract thinking can help us with school, solving problems, and understanding the world around us. Next time you see something ordinary, like a street or a bird, try to think about what it might mean, too!
Maria: (smiling) I’ll start thinking about things in new ways. Thanks again, Jaden!
Jaden: Anytime, Maria. See you tomorrow!
Narrator: (voice-over) So kids, remember: Concrete thinking helps us focus on what’s real, while abstract thinking helps us imagine and understand new ideas. Which one will you practice today?
End.
TOP-10 Scripts from Edge Studio's Voice Over Script Library
[Skyrim opens with an Imperial wagon driving four prisoners down a snowy mountain pass. All are seated and bound; the one dressed in finery is gagged.]
Ralof: Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.
Lokir: D**n you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn’t been looking for you, I could’ve stolen that horse and been half way to Hammerfell. You there. You and me — we should be here. It’s these Stormcloaks the Empire wants.
Ralof: We’re all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief.
Imperial Soldier: Shut up back there!
[Lokir looks at the gagged man.]
Lokir: And what’s wrong with him?
Ralof: Watch your tongue! You’re speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King.
Lokir: Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You’re the leader of the rebellion. But if they captured you… Oh gods, where are they taking us?
Ralof: I don’t know where we’re going, but Sovngarde awaits.
Lokir: No, this can’t be happening. This isn’t happening.
Ralof: Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?
Lokir: Why do you care?
Ralof: A Nord’s last thoughts should be of home.
Lokir: Rorikstead. I’m…I’m from Rorikstead.
[They approach the village of Helgen. A soldier calls out to the lead wagon.]
Imperial Soldier: General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!
General Tullius: Good. Let’s get this over with.
Lokir: Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me.
Ralof: Look at him, General Tullius the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. D**n elves. I bet they had something to do with this. This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny…when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe.
[A man and son watch the prisoners pull into town.]
Haming: Who are they, daddy? Where are they going?
Torolf: You need to go inside, little cub.
Haming: Why? I want to watch the soldiers.
Torolf: Inside the house. Now.
Galadriel: (speaking partly in Elvish)
(I amar prestar aen.)
The world is changed.
(Han matho ne nen.)
I feel it in the water.
(Han mathon ned cae.)
I feel it in the earth.
(A han noston ned gwilith.)
I smell it in the air.
Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.
It began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven to the Dwarf-Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else desire power. For within these rings was bound the strength and the will to govern each race. But they were all of them deceived, for another ring was made. Deep in the land of Mordor, in the Fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged a master ring, and into this ring he poured his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life.
One ring to rule them all.
One by one, the free lands of Middle-Earth fell to the power of the Ring, but there were some who resisted. A last alliance of men and elves marched against the armies of Mordor, and on the very slopes of Mount Doom, they fought for the freedom of Middle-Earth. Victory was near, but the power of the ring could not be undone. It was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the king, took up his father’s sword.
Sauron, enemy of the free peoples of Middle-Earth, was defeated. The Ring passed to Isildur, who had this one chance to destroy evil forever, but the hearts of men are easily corrupted. And the ring of power has a will of its own. It betrayed Isildur, to his death.
And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, it ensnared another bearer.
It came to the creature Gollum, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. And there it consumed him. The ring gave to Gollum unnatural long life. For five hundred years it poisoned his mind, and in the gloom of Gollum’s cave, it waited. Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumor grew of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear, and the Ring of Power perceived its time had come. It abandoned Gollum, but then something happened that the Ring did not intend. It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable: a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, of the Shire.
For the time will soon come when hobbits will shape the fortunes of all.
To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark, dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp, shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
Do I really look like a guy with a plan, Harvey?
I don’t have a plan …
The mob has plans. The cops have plans.
You know what I am, Harvey? I am a dog chasing cars… I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it.
I just do things. I am just the wrench in the gears. I hate plans.
Yours, theirs, everyone’s. Maroni has plans. Gordon has plans.
Schemers trying to control their worlds.
I am not a schemer. I show the schemer how pathetic their attempts to control things really are.
So when I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you know I am telling the truth.
I just did what I do best. I took your plan and turned it on itself.
Look what I have done to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets.
Nobody panics when the expected people gets killed. Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying.
If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics. – because it’s all part of the plan.
But when I say that one little old mayor will die, everybody lose their minds.
Introduce a little anarchy, you upset the established order and everything becomes chaos.
I am agent of chaos.
And you know the thing about chaos Harvey?
“IT is FAIR.”
Hello, ladies, look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn’t me, but if he stopped using ladies scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he’s me. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re on a boat with the man your man could smell like. What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s an oyster with two tickets to that thing you love. Look again, the tickets are now diamonds. Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady. I’m on a horse.
Share your script!
Proud of your writing?
Have a script that’s fun, unusual, challenging, or just very good?
By uploading it to the library, you help your fellow VO artists, enhance the library, and encourage others to do the same!