Coding The Cop & the Anthem
Using Computer Science Principles to Solve Real Life Problems
After reading The Cop & the Anthem, we're going to apply what we learned from the 1st chapter of Once Upon an Algorithim:The Path to Understanding Computation and our introduction to basic coding from www.code.org to analyze how Soapy ended up with "three months on the island."
What It Should Look Like
Using your graphics program of choice (Illustrator or Photoshop), Map Soapy's decision making process.
Things to consider:
- Context – remember who Soapy is and where he comes from, i.e., his worldview – this alogrithim is specific to his situation and probably wouldn't apply to just anyone (like someone of wealth)
- Time and place matter in this situation
- How does each step in his solution change the algorithim – in other words, what adjustments does he make? Do his solutions "ramp up" by adding other variables or risk?
- Is Soapy's methodology linear or is there a pattern (loop)? How do we know when Soapy solves the problem?
- Think form beginning to end – what is the intended outcome?
- Here's a caveat – does Soapy's story have a "debugging" element to it?
You're probably thinking right now, how am I supposed to do this?
The key here is to represent, graphically, Soapy's problem solving process – think in terms of a computer – Soapy is merely a representation of a problem in a particular set of circumstances. In the end, there is neither a good nor bad solution, just a solution
Design Parameters
- Size: 20" x 30" Resolution: 300 DPI – can be portrait or landscape
- Title – needs to include the name of the short story The Cop and the Anthem but also something that describes how you are representing the problem solving process
- Your graphic should look like a type of algorithim – in other words, it should show a type of methodology (solution) for solving the problem
- You can use real pictures, symbols, or graphic characters to represent the methodology to solving the problem
- The problem and the solution should be clear – how Soapy gets there is for you to decide
