computer science

Gone Maggie Gone

Gone Maggie Gone is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gone Maggie Gone rather than just read about it. In short: "Gone Maggie Gone" is the thirteenth episode of the twentieth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 15, 2009.

Key takeaways

Gone Maggie Gone belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gone Maggie Gone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gone Maggie Gone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"Gone Maggie Gone" is the thirteenth episode of the twentieth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 15, 2009. The episode was written by both Billy Kimball and longtime Simpsons writer Ian Maxtone-Graham, and directed by Chris Clements. In the episode, Homer leaves Maggie on the doorstep of a convent, but when she disappears, Lisa goes undercover as a nun to solve the mystery and find her. Meanwhile, Homer tries to keep Maggie's disappearance a secret from Marge, who was temporarily blinded while watching a solar eclipse.

Plot The Simpsons are excited for a solar eclipse over Springfield. After Homer's camera obscura breaks, Marge gives up her own. As the family expresses delight at seeing the eclipse, Marge takes a peek, which blinds her. Dr. Hibbert informs the family that Marge's eyes must be covered for two weeks, and she must not be put under any stress. After a rat infestation, Homer takes Maggie and Santa's Little Helper to buy rat poison. On the way home the baby and the dog's bickering causes the car to fall off a bridge. Homer tries to get them all across a lake in a small boat. He first takes Maggie across and puts her on the doorstep of a convent, where the nuns take her in and refuse to give her back. While Homer hides the truth from Marge, Lisa goes undercover as a nun and infiltrates the convent. When Mother Superior refuses to tell her where Maggie is, Lisa discovers that they are seeking a jewel. The first clue is to "seek God with heart and soul," which she accomplishes by playing a few measures of the song by the same name on an organ, activating a Rube Goldberg-type contraption. The next clue to find the "biggest man-made ring" in Springfield; after considering circular rings, she believes the biggest "ring" is in the Springfield Bell Tower. Arriving there, she meets Comic Book Guy and Principal Skinner, who tell her that St. Teresa of Ávila had a deathbed vision of a jewel that would bring peace and harmony to the world. The gem will be revealed on the first full moon after a solar eclipse, which is that night. However, the bell is actually papier-mâché, so they conclude that the answer is the RING in the Springfield Sign. When they arrive, they are met by Mr. Burns and Smithers, who are also looking for the gem. Lisa finds writing on the letters of the sign, "Great crimes kill holy sage", and unscrambles a message that reads "Regally, the rock gem is Lisa". Mr. Burns takes the others back to the convent where Lisa announces that she is the gem child. However, Mother Superior tells her that the gem child is Maggie and rearranges the message into "It's really Maggie, Sherlock". Maggie is put on a throne, creating a rainbow that brings peace over Springfield. Marge suddenly bursts in and takes Maggie back, and her eyes are healed upon seeing Maggie. On the way home she asks Homer if she was being selfish, but he says that he found a replacement child; Bart assumes the role of the "gem child", and the paradise turns into a living Hell.

Cultural references The main plot of this episode parodies National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code. For example, the bell in the tower turning out to be the wrong one was a scene in National Treasure, regarding the Liberty Bell. For The Da Vinci Code, the Holy Grail turned out to be Mary Magdalene, and Sophie was the last remaining heir to the Christ bloodline; whereas in this episode, the gem turns out to be Maggie. In another reference to The Da Vinci Code, Mr. Burns calls Smithers his loyal albino servant, a reference to Silas from The Da Vinci Code. The large portion of the first part of the episode involving the rats was an homage to Ratatouille. The song that is played when Lisa walks into the monastery is "O Fortuna". Bart turning everything to Hell is an homage to The Omen. The title references the movie Gone Baby Gone. The clue "Great crimes kill holy sage" is quite possibly a reference to the fallout from the Catholic Church sexual abuse cases. The battle depicted in the American Revolution flashback is the Battle of Lexington at Lexington Common with the historic Buckman Tavern in the background.

Reception The episode was well received by television critics. Robert Canning of IGN said: "as entertaining as the story was, it would not have made a difference if it weren't just as equally funny. I laughed throughout the retelling of the legend of St. Theresa, which included pirate nuns and a fake war for independence. Mr. Burns referring to Smithers as his albino was another hilarious bit. Overall, it was the combination of a fully engaging story and great laughs that made ‘Gone, Maggie, Gone’ another winner for The Simpsons in their post-hi-def series run." Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A− stating, "It's been a long time since the show has done something fresh, and I think this is about as good as it's gonna get for a while—even if the episode took a while to get going." TV Verdict's Erich Asperschlager said: "Part Da Vinci Code, part National Treasure, and part Professor Layton, ‘Gone Maggie Gone’ shakes up the Simpsons formula in a fun way by introducing one of those American-history-conspiracy-theory-cult-mysteries that are so popular with the kids, as well as those brain-bending-word-and-logic-puzzles that aren’t. ‘Gone Maggie Gone’ is one of the best so far this season." The episode was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. It lost both awards, to the South Park episode "Margaritaville" and Legend of the Seeker, respectively. It was also nominated for the Annie Award for "Best Writing in an Animated Television Production." Billy Kimball and Ian Maxtone-Graham were nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in the Animation category in 2010 for writing the episode. The Simpsons was the only show to be nominated in the category, with the other nominated episodes being "The Burns and the Bees", "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe", "Take My Life, Please" and "Wedding for Disaster" (the winner).

References

External links

"Gone Maggie Gone" at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gone Maggie Gone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gone Maggie Gone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gone Maggie Gone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gone Maggie Gone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gone Maggie Gone

In research: Gone Maggie Gone appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gone Maggie Gone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gone Maggie Gone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 American television episodes, Fiction about cryptography, Television episodes directed by Chris Clements (animation director), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gone Maggie Gone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Gone Maggie Gone” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Gone Maggie Gone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gone Maggie Gone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gone Maggie Gone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gone Maggie Gone in simple terms?

Why does Gone Maggie Gone matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gone Maggie Gone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gone Maggie Gone.