*************************************************************************** * * * * * * * * * * * LORD OF THE FLIES * * * * * * * * * * * *************************************************************************** Activities and Notes for Students (Re-written for the MICROBEE by Alan Laughton) INTRODUCTION TO LORD OF THE FLIES ================================= 'Lord of the Flies' is the novel which made William Golding famous, and was responsible for his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. It provides a tantalising glimpse into the depths of human nature, but in such an accessible way that it has long been a favourite for study in school literature classes. Whether or not one agrees with Golding's basic premise that, freed of the constraints of civilisation, Man will degenerate into savagery, there is a power and clarity in his writing that makes his story utterly believable. Already the inspiration for two films and many stage productions, Golding's story is a landmark in modern English fiction. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROGRAMME ============================= The programme consists of a series of activities to assist high school students learning Golding's novel 'Lorä oæ thå Flies'. The student can select thå activity of his choice from a series of menus. Activities include several quizzes, notes on a wide variety of topics, and graphics of the Island. The games are designed to be fun and at the same time to provide a fairly painless way to memorise quotations, learn important passages, and in general, to become familiar with the plot, characters and themes of the novel. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS =================== This programme was originally written in GWBASIC and required MS-DOS. Iô haó beeî converteä tï Microworlä BASIÃ versioî 6.2¸ oò greater® The programme will run on á Premiuí Microbeå, 256TÃ Microbee oò Matildá iî CP/M mode. It is not necessary to have á colour monitoò aó no colouò commands werå converteä tï thió version. The Text parts will run any standard 'bee as it's only the graphic pictures that requires a Premium. The programme is normally supplied crunched on one floppy disks and they need to be un-crunched onto a 776k double sided 3.5" disk to enable the program to run. HOW TO GET STARTED ================== Un-crunch the files to a 776K double sided 3.5" system disk. Copy BASIC.COM to the disk and configure the disk to auto-boot "BASIC LOF". Then, just put the disk in A: drive press Reset. USING THE MENUS =============== You find your way around the different parts of the programme by using a very simple system of menus. The choices offered at each level are shown on the screen, with each one numbered. For the selection you want, press the number key to go to that selection. To Find A Menu If a menu is not currently showing on the screen, you can almost always get Što one by pressing the <> key. This will halt the current activity, and display the active menu. THE MAIN MENU ============= The Main Menu Options are described briefly below. Introduction This is a welcome to the programme and a brief description of its features. Quizzes Choose one of the quizzes available from a further menu. Notes This also leads to another menu, listing the different topics for which notes are available. The Island This segment reveals a map of the island as it is described in the novel, with enlargements of certain key areas and associated notes. Quit Return to CP/M QUIZZES MENU ============ These are the options available on this menu. Quotation Quiz Tests your detailed knowledge of the book by asking you to choose the correct speaker of each quotation. Over 90 quotations to really test you.A good score here earns you a clue to the competition code. Missing Words Vital passages from the text can be learnt by heart, as you guess the words missing from the screen. Great revision value! NOTES MENU ========== Major topics are: Plot Summaries This leads to another menu allowing you to select an overall summary or chapter summaries. Character Studies Another menu to select notes on any of the major characters Exam Questions A selection of notes on how to handle different exam questions. Themes Discusses the major ideas of the novel Background Brief notes on relevant points. Style A discussion of Golding's language. The Author Notes about Golding's life and a portrait. INSTRUCTIONS ============ The programme has been designed to be as user-friendly as possible. Most of the activities have on-screen help. Where more detailed instructions are necessary, this option has been included in the menu for that particular activity. Activities which include their own instructions are: Quotation Quiz (Quiz Menu) Missing Words (Quiz Menu) The Island (Main Menu) CUSTOMIZING THE PROGRAMME ========================= With a modicum of knowledge and the ability to use a text processor, you should be able to customise some of the data used in the programme, if you so desire. If you use Word Star, then use it in NON-DOCUMENT mode only! The most obvious areas where this can be accomplished are as follows: QUOTATION QUIZ - The data for this quiz is contained in the text file QUOTES. The first item in the file is the number of quotes currently in the file. Don't forget to update this if you add or delete quotes. Each question must contain the following items: The quotation itself, the correct answer, 3 incorrect answers. You will need to experiment to get the correct formatting on the screen. A quick look at the file should make it clear what to do if you are still confused. NOTES - I don't recommend that you alter the notes, as my system for printing them to the screen is a little peculiar to say the least, but if you must experiment, then go ahead. The first item in each file is the number of screens or pages of data, then each 'page' has the number of data items on that page. Beginning an item with a * indicates that the item is to be high-lighted in the text. To print a blank line, include an item consisting of 4 or more spaces enclosed in quotation marks. You may need to experiment a little to find out just how much will fit on each page. MISSING WORDS - If you have a lot of time on your hands, and are by nature a patient and tolerant person like me, then you can try writing different passages for the Missing Words game. I'll leave you to figure out how it's done! Unfortunately, you won't be able to change the reference to the passage in the GAMES Menu. I guess that's about all, unless you are one of those people who can't resist seein what Golding looks like wearing spectacles and a false nose. The pictures are all in GRLOAD format. ABOUT THE PROGRAMME =================== This programme began its life as a set of quizzes I programmed for my own Literature students at a High School here in Singapore. Over the last two years, the programme has grown and developed and gone through a variety of versions, to become what it is today. It has been quite well-received by students here who face the Cambridge GCE O Level examinations. Originally, as the new owner of an Apple II clone, I programmed in Applesoft Basic. My first programme (Julius Caesar) fitted easily onto one 5.25" floppy disk, and consisted mainly of three games and a segment on the Globe Theatre. I believed then as I believe now, that people do not really want to sit and read pages of notes from a computer monitor. However, feedback from users indicated a desire for more notes, so the programme quickly grew. It also changed direction to become IBM-compatible to run on the computer of choice of 80% of the student population here in Singapore. So I put my prejudices aside and picked up a smattering of GWBasic. 'Lord of the Flies' was the last programme I wrote in GWBASIC. After this, Microsoft QuickBasic makes its appearance. I still see room for improvements and additions to the programme, and each new version on each different text is a little more sophisticated than its predecessor. Who knows what the future will bring? Steve Herbert 154 Sixth Ave. Avenue Park Singapore 1027