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* OF MICE AND MEN *
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Activities and Notes for Students
Programme and Notes
by
Steve Herbert
(p1)
Table of Contents
=================
Introduction to Of Mice and Men............................3
Introduction to the Programme..............................3
System Requirements........................................4
Installation...............................................4
How to get Started.........................................5
Using the Menus............................................5
The Main Menu..............................................6
Quizzes and Games Menu.....................................7
Notes Menu.................................................8
Instructions...............................................9
The Competition............................................9
Customising the Programme..................................10
About the Programme........................................11
Entry Form.................................................12
Registration...............................................13
(p2)
INTRODUCTION TO OF MICE AND MEN
===============================
'Of Mice and Men' is one of the novels on which John Steinbeck's fame
rests. It was one of his first novels, appearing in early 1937. It has been
called a Play/Novel, and if you study the structure carefully, you will
see that it does resemble a play with six scenes. In fact, later in 1937 it
was produced as a successful play.
It is a deceptively simple novel. Although it is very short, it has been
carefully crafted, with every sentence and sometimes every word carrying
some significance. As you read the book, watch out for phrases that echo
earlier passages, or point forward to what is to come. This echoing and
foreshadowing is a feature of the story, used by Steinbeck to bind the plot
together tightly, giving it a sense of unity.
Steinbeck's most famous novel is the much longer 'The Grapes of Wrath'.
INTRODUCTION TO THE PROGRAMME
=============================
The programme consists of a series of activities to assist high school
students learning Steinbeck's novel 'Of Mice and Men'. The student can
select the activity of his choice from a series of menus.
Activities include several quizzes or games, notes on a wide variety of
topics, graphics to help visualise the setting and even a competition with
the chance to win worthwhile prizes.
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.
(p3)
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===================
The programme will run on IBM and Compatible computers with 512Kb of memory
or more. CGA card is required, although it is not necessary to have a
colour monitor. However, colour is recommended, especially for the games.
The programme is normally supplied on two 5.25" floppy disks and the
default set up is for the programme disk to be in Drive A and the data disk
in Drive B. These defaults may be changed, however, from the SETUP option
on the Main Menu, and the programme will also run from a single drive (of
720Kb or more) or from a hard disk.
INSTALLATION
============
You are advised to use the DOS DISKCOPY command to back up your disks
before you use them.
If you intend to run the programme from the original disks, or from back-
ups of the originals, no installation is required. If you want to run it
from a hard disk or from a high capacity disk, just follow the simple steps
below to install it successfully.
1. Insert the Programme Disk (the one containing the main programme file,
OMM.EXE) into Drive A (or Drive B).
2. Change to that drive by typing A: <Enter> (or B: <Enter>) and type
INSTALL <Enter>. Now follow the instructions to copy all the programme and
data files from the distribution disks.
3. If error messages occur when you first run the programme, select SETUP
from the Main Menu, and check that the Drive/Directory setting accurately
reflects the drive and directory where the data files are installed.
(p4)
HOW TO GET STARTED
==================
A. Two 5.25" Floppy Disks
Boot your computer using a bootable DOS diskette. You can make the Of Mice
and Men Programme Disk into a bootable diskette by using the DOS command
SYS. See your DOS manual for more details. Once your computer is running
and the DOS prompt is on the screen, insert the Programme Disk into Drive A
and the Data Disk into Drive B. Now change to Drive A if necessary by
typing A: <<Enter>> To run the programme, type AUTOEXEC <<Enter>>
B. One 3.5" disk
Boot your computer using a bootable DOS diskette. You can make the Of Mice
and Men Programme Disk into a bootable diskette by using the DOS command
SYS. See your DOS manual for more details. Once your computer is running
and the DOS prompt is on the screen, insert the Programme Disk into Drive
A. Now change to Drive A if necessary by typing A: <<Enter>> To run the
programme, type AUTOEXEC <<Enter>>
C. Hard Disk
Make sure you have followed the instructions in the previous section to
install the programme. Now change to the programme directory.(If you used
the default installation, then the Directory is C:\OMM so you would type
cd\OMM <<Enter>>)
Now type AUTOEXEC <<Enter>> or OMM <<Enter>>
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 the first
one high-lighted. Use the arrow keys to move the high-light to the
selection you want. Then press the <<Enter>> key to go to that selection.If
your computer has a numeric key-pad, you may use those arrow keys as well,
but remember to turn off the Num Lock function.
To Find A Menu
If a menu is not currently showing on the screen, you can almost always get
to one by pressing the <<Esc>> key. This will halt the current activity,and
display the active menu.
(p5)
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 And Games
Choose one of the quizzes and games available from a further menu. See the
next page for further details of the games and quizzes available.
Notes
This also leads to another menu, listing the different topics for which
notes are available.
Competition
This reveals details of the competition, and gives the coded message which
makes up Level 1 of the competition.
Maps
This segment reveals the position of California in the USA, and also gives
a suggested plan of the ranch where most of the action takes place.
Set-Up
Use this selection to change the colour of the text and the menus, or to
alter the speed at which the programme runs; also to set the drive and
directory in which the data files are stored, and to toggle between a dot
matrix and a laser printer.
Register
Select this option to print out a registration form so that you can
register your copy of the programme.
Quit
Return to DOS
(p6)
QUIZZES AND GAMES MENU
======================
These are the options available on this menu.
Plot Swap
Re-arrange events from the plot into their correct order.
MatchMaker
Try to remember the position of the last card you turned up in this adapted
version of the card game Concentration. You have to match up characters
with a correct statement about them or a reference to them from the text.
Quotation Quiz
Tests your detailed knowledge of the book by asking you to choose the
correct speaker of each quotation. Over 50 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!
Look Out, Lennie!
An addictive word-guessing game. To save Lennie from being killed, you must
guess the mystery word in time. Lennie's life depends on you!
Lennie's Journey
A simulated board game in the Snakes and Ladders tradition. Become Lennie
as you follow his changing fortunes through the plot of the text. Try to
beat your own record for completing this game!
Printed Quiz
This option allows you to print out a 20-question quiz on your printer. The
questions are chosen at random from a database of more than 100 questions,
so you will get a different quiz each time. Print out the answers too.
(p7)
NOTES MENU
==========
Major topics are:
Plot Summaries
This leads to another menu allowing you to select summaries of individual
Chapters or an overall summary of the whole book.
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.
Setting/Background
Brief notes on relevant points.
Language/Imagery
A discussion of Steinbeck's language, as illustrated in the novel.
The Author
Notes about Steinbeck's life.
To read the notes, select the desired topic from the Menu. Then use Page Up
and Page Down to page through the notes. You can change the colour of the
text and the background in the SETUP option (on the Main Menu) if the
default colours are not to your taste.
You can also print out the notes if you like for easier study. When the
desired notes are on screen, press <P> to enable this option.
(p8)
THE COMPETITION
===============
One of the unique features of this programme is the on-disk competition. To
take part in the competition, you must first solve a code. To see the coded
message, select COMPETITION from the Main Menu.
Once you have cracked the code, you will be able to discover how to proceed
with the next level of the competition, a treasure hunt in the Ranch. The
code will reveal the hot-key to press to search for the treasure, which is
a chest containing five questions.
Once the treasure is discovered, you have to answer the series of questions
to successfully complete Part Three of the competition.
Write your solution to the coded message on the Entry Form (Included as
page 12 of this manual), and also write the answers to the five Buried
Treasure questions. Please note that you must be a registered user of the
programme to be eligible to enter the competition.
First prize is cash to the value of approximately US$50 plus computer
products. Second prize US$15 plus computer products. Twenty consolation
prizes of computer products. The value of the prizes may vary slightly from
year to year, but should increase rather than decrease (assuming enough of
you lovely people out there in Computer-land buy my programmes).
The competition is an annual one closing at the end of November each
year,and with the winning entries drawn at the beginning of December.
All prize-winners will be notified by post, and all entrants in the
competition will receive a list of results.
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:
All of the Games and Quizzes listed on the Games Menu
The Maps (Main Menu)
In addition, you can receive help on any menu by pressing <H>.
(p9)
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. 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
OMM.QQZ on Disk 2. 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, a sentence explaining the
context of the quotation, the Chapter number, the page number. Use ordinary
Arabic numerals for Chapter and page numbers, not Roman numerals. A quick
look at the file should make it clear what to do if you are still confused.
LOOK OUT, LENNIE - This is my version of the Hangman game. You can easily
add new words by altering the file HANGMAN.DTA on Disk 2. The first item in
the file is the number of words. Don't forget to update this if you add or
delete words. Each word used in the game also has an accompanying
definition; this must be included.
PLOTSWAP - The data for this is contained in the files ???SWAP.DTA. The
first item in the file is the number of 'events' listed. The more events
included in this file, the more difficult the game becomes. You could use
this fact to make the game more challenging or more simple, but remember
the minimum number is 12. The events in the file must be listed in the
exact order in which they occur in the play.
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. Plot summaries can be identified by the
file suffix .PLT , Character studies have .CHR , while other notes have the
suffix .NTS 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
speeches 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
speech in the GAMES Menu. Files end in .MWD
LENNIE'S JOURNEY - Not much you can change here, except for the True/False
questions. These are contained in the file BORDATA.DTA Take care not to
make the questions too long.
(p10)
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 in English
Literature.
Originally, as the new owner of an Apple II clone, I programmed in
Applesoft Basic. The programme fitted easily onto one 5.25" floppy disk,and
consisted mainly of three games and the 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.
As the programme grew and became more sophisticated, I felt the need for
something a little more powerful and faster than interpreted Basic, so
Microsoft QuickBasic made 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?
Currently, available titles are:
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
MACBETH
ROMEO AND JULIET
OF MICE AND MEN
ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS
VILLAGE BY THE SEA
TRILLIONS
MRS FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH
WALKABOUT
THE GHOST OF THOMAS KEMPE
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
(p11)
ENTRY FORM
==========
LEVEL ONE - CODE BREAKING Write the decoded message clearly and accurately
on the lines below
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
LEVEL TWO - Buried Treasure and LEVEL THREE - Question Answers Write your
answers to the five buried treasure questions clearly and accurately in the
spaces below.
1. ........................................................................
.......................................................................
2. ........................................................................
.......................................................................
3. ........................................................................
........................................................................
4..........................................................................
........................................................................
5. ........................................................................
........................................................................
NAME.............................................................
ADDRESS....................................................................
...................................................................
...................................................................
(p12)
REGISTRATION
============
There are two levels of personal Registration plus Site Licence
Registration.
A. Basic Registration costs US$20. For this amount, you will receive a
printed manual and instructions on how to remove the Registration
screen at the beginning of the programme.
B. Full Registration costs US$30. As well as the benefits above, you will
receive our quarterly newsletter free for one year, and you will be
entitled to a free update of the programme when available.
C. Site Licence Registration (US$150) entitles you to make as many copies
of the programme as necessary for use within a single institution. This
is especially suitable for schools who want to use multiple copies of
the programme for use in classrooms or Computer Laboratories.
To register, run the programme, and select REGISTER from the main menu.
This option will ask you for name and address information and then print
out a completed Registration Form. Post the Registration Form together with
your cheque for the appropriate amount as stated above to
STEVE HERBERT
39 GREENLEAF VIEW
SINGAPORE 1027
REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
Please note that a cheque in any currency is acceptable. Prices are quoted
in US Dollars for convenience. If you live elsewhere, simply convert to
your own currency before paying.
For any further information, please feel free to contact me. I have a
number of other Literature programmes available for both Senior and Junior
High School. For a full list, run the programme and read the Introduction
(Main Menu).
(p13)