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Like other works of IF, Arthur offers some very rich opportunities for students
to represent problems in a variety of ways, as they work toward solutions. Usually, my own
classes maintain lists of problems and of restatements of problems, as they read works of
IF. These lists help them to keep track of the multiple problems that they are working on,
help them solve the problems, and, perhaps most important, give them a tool for looking
back at, and thinking about, their problem-solving techniques.
Another part of this website discusses representing problems in the story Wishbringer.
Here, let's take a look at some reformulations of problems that students typically create
as they read Arthur.
Very early in the story, as the reader tries to start exploring, he or she encounters a
problem in dealing with a curfew imposed by the evil King Lot. Here is a typical series of
formulations of this problem:
 | At first, students may ask, "How can I get out of the churchyard area?" |
| Then, when the curfew-enforcing soldiers interfere, the problem may become, especially
for relatively naive students, "How can I overcome the soldiers?" |
| Soon, it becomes clear that an unarmed boy can't defeat the soldiers, and so students
usually ask, "Where can I hide from the soldiers?" |
| Probably the most likely hiding place is the only nearby building, where the problem
becomes, "In the church, where can I hide from the soldiers?" |
| But there's no good hiding place in the church, and this realization usually brings
students to a more or less final formulation of this problem, "In the churchyard,
where can I hide from the soldiers?" This question leads leads students to have
Arthur hide, successfully, behind one of the gravestones. |
Later, as he or she continues to explore, the reader encounters a deadly-treacherous
bog, but a person who knows the way through turns out to be close at hand. Here is a
series of reformulations of this problem.
| The problem may begin as, "How can I get through the treacherous peat bog?" |
| When the readers realize that the bog is a kind of maze, in which one false step can
cause disaster, they may formulate the problem in a way that takes into account the need
for some sort of map: "How can I get directions for getting through the bog?" |
| Once they know that they need directions, students usually ask, "Where can I find
someone who might know his or her way through the bog?" |
| By the time they get to the bog, students have usually found an unconscious character
who apparently lives near the swamp, and so they ask, "How can I awaken the
peasant?" |
| But, in order to awaken the unconscious man, the reader must figure out, "What's
wrong with the peasant?" |
| Some hints in the description of the unconscious man's dwelling often lead students to
ask, "What's wrong with the peasant's cottage?" |
| And, since the cottage is described as very cold, the problem may become, "How can
I warm up the cottage?" |
| The cottage does have a smoldering fire, and so students may ask, "Where can I get
fuel for the peasant's fire?" |
| If they have learned what peat is, the readers may now change the problem to, "How
can I get some dry peat?" |
| Students find that, though dry peat is easy to find at the edge of the bog, it's very
hard to dig it out. As a result, they soon ask, "What sort of tool would be good for
digging up peat?" |
| Outside the peasant's cottage, the students have already found an object with an
unfamiliar name, and so they may inquire, "What is a slean?" |
| Then, they may ask, "How can I find out what a slean is?" If they are catching
on to the old interactive fiction rule, "Examine everything," they will quickly
solve this problem. |
| Once the cottage is warmed up, the peasant regains consciousness and reveals that he
does, indeed, work in the peat bog, but it's clear that he is suffering from a leg injury.
As a result, student will often ask, "How can I help the peasant further?"
though this question may not seem directly related to getting through the bog. It turns
out that Arthur can help the man by giving him his crutch, which has been left outside the
cottage. |
| Once Arthur is in the peasant's good graces, the students may ask, "How can I find
out what the peasant knows about the bog?" When they ask the peasant about the bog,
he gives them directions to get through it. |
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