The story contains many features of orally based thought: both words as power and actions, and memory aids, the two main categories distinct to oral thinking. The characters exist on the level of actions and words, not introspective abstraction. Except for the stage in Guy's life when he decides to repent for his violence, actions dominate the book. Even dialog between characters is rare, and not very realistic. For example, when Guy first speaks to Phaelice, he gives a monologue of several paragraphs. The natural back and forth is absent. Also, the characters are flat. We do not see into their heads; they are basically type characters. We never find out what drives them, or the complex web of thoughts that causes them to take certain actions. Likewise, description in the book is sparse. The dragons are not detailed in all their terrible features; instead the author calls up the already developed image of a dragon into the mind of the viewer. The concrete nature of the story points to oral thought. Abstraction and psychological ideas are products of print culture. Their absence is easily noticeable to readers today, because in our heavily print-based society, we have become accustomed to seeing abstract ideas and descriptions. Without them, the story seems simple and flat. To a member of a culture without much print or writing, the story would have seemed different. In Ong (53-54), people from predominantly oral cultures had trouble defining words. They assumed that everyone already knew, for example, what a tree was. Oral people would have an image of a dragon or a giant in their minds, and only unusual features that affect the story would need to be noted. Actions and words were the important elements for people from oral cultures. The verbal and physical conflict between characters was what made up the mental life of these people.

Praise was another feature that came from oral culture. Guy is praised for his sword of flame, and his overpowering strength and bravery. These words seem trite and insincere to us today, but as Ong writes, "...Praise goes with the highly polarized, agonistic, oral world of good and evil, virtue and vice, villains and heroes" (45). Praise was part of an oral western rhetorical tradition, and it made its way into print in this story. Praise went along with the designation of Guy as a "heavy" character, or one who is larger than life. Characters of this type were important in oral cultures, because their heroic features aided memory. When nothing could be recorded, things had to stand out to be remembered. Guy has the strongest arm, and the best blade. He literally seems to be larger than other characters in the story, perhaps approaching the height of a giant. Guy's enemies also had to be unusual to stand out. The giant cow of Dunsmore-Heath is a good example of a bizarre crature that aids memory. Other examples in Guy of Warwick are a giant boar, and the fight between the dragon and the lion. Stories in oral cultures were episodic, and the story of Guy incorporates this element as well. Certain episodes could be inserted or deleted based on the memory of the storyteller, in an oral culture. The ability to lengthen or shorten a story without affecting the plot is also useful in print culture. One of the chapbook versions cuts a 232 page book down to twenty-four pages without changing the story much. A later chapbook then expanded it back to 144 pages. The story could be easily changed based on the audience the printer was aiming at. Redundancy was a key element to oral storytelling, because it was necessary to repeat things that the audience might have missed. Several of Guy's adventures are repetitive: he fights two dragons, and two giants. The differences between the episodes are small, so this feature probably came from the oral tradition. Another memory aid was the use of common numbers. Guy saves a man's sixteen children and defeats sixteen ruffians. The number sixteen must have had some significance to people of the time. Continue