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MANUAL.TXT
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1979-12-31
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INTRODUCTION TO ANIMAL FARM
===========================
'Animal Farm' is one of George Orwell's most famous books, and possibly the
most widely read. Because of the simple style in which it is written, it
may be read by children as an entertaining story, as well as by adults
searching for a deeper meaning.
Written in 1945, this short novel is an expression of Orwell's
disillusionment with Communism. It was the book which made him famous,
although he consolidated his fame with his last book, '1984'.
What is striking about the book is the way in which Orwell has so neatly
captured several levels of meaning in straightforward prose. For many years
banned in the USSR, it is a vicious satire of the Communist Revolution in
Russia and the Stalinist years. On another level, it depicts the faults of
any totalitarian system. However, the surface level of the animal fable has
a certain charm of its own.
INTRODUCTION TO THE PROGRAM
===========================
The program consists of a series of activities to assist high school
students learning Orwell's novel 'Animal Farm'. 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 of the Farm 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.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===================
The program in its current format will only run on a Premium, 256TC or
Matilda Microbee. See Customization Notes below for other Microbees.
The program can be run from 3.5" single sided, double sided or
standard 5.25" Microbee disks.
USING THE MENUS
===============
You find your way around the different parts of the program by using a
very simple system of menus.
The choices offered at each level are shown on the screen. Just press the
number key that corresponds to the selection you wish to run.
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.
THE MAIN MENU
=============
The Main Menu Options are described briefly below.
Introduction
This is a welcome to the program 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 Farm
This segment reveals a map of Animal Farm 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.
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 Orwell's language.
The Author
Notes about Orwell's life and a portrait.
INSTRUCTIONS
============
The program 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 (Games Menu)
Missing Words (Games Menu)
The Farm (Main Menu)
CUSTOMIZING THE PROGRAM
=========================
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 program, 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
AFQUOTES. 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.
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
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.
FAMILY FEUD - 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.
I guess that's about all, unless you are one of those people who can't
resist seeing what Orwell looks like wearing spectacles and a false nose.
The pictures are all in Basic GRLOAD format.
The modify the program to run on any disk based Microbee, you have to
eliminate the loading of the graphics *.PIC images. These pictures are not
essential for the program.