science

Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow

Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow is a 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 Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow rather than just read about it. In short: "Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" is a poem by Orson Scott Card. The poem was the basis for Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series.

Key takeaways

Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" is a poem by Orson Scott Card. The poem was the basis for Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series.

Publication "Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" won first prize in the long serious poem category at the Utah State Institute of Fine Arts in 1981. Card published this poem in the August 1989 issue of Sunstone magazine; and reprinted it in his short story collection Maps in a Mirror.

Plot summary This poem is about Alvin Miller, a young blacksmith’s apprentice. One day, when there is not much work to do, the blacksmith tells Alvin to go into the woods to look for berries. In the woods, Alvin meets a red-winged bird that makes a "maker" out of him. When he goes back to the blacksmith’s shop he tries to make a horseshoe with the blacksmith’s help. However, he is unable to strike the metal with the hammer to bend it. Later, when he is alone, he follows the bird's instructions and magically makes a plow of gold. Putting the plow in a bag he sets off to find some soil that his plow can bring to life. At last Alvin comes to a river in the middle of a foggy land and takes his plow out of the bag. The fog begins to clear and he meets a man named Verily Cooper. Together they build a plow frame and when they touch it the plow comes to life and plows the ground.

Characters Alvin Miller - main character The blacksmith - unnamed The red-winged bird - unnamed The living plow - made by Alvin Verily Cooper - a barrel maker Old Mizeray - a river Farmers - unnamed

Origins of Prentice Alvin According to Card he came up with the idea to write "Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" while attending graduate school at the University of Utah. According to Card he decided to try to write an epic poem after reading The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser in one of his literature classes. At the time Card was not planning on expanding "Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" into a novel series. It was originally meant to stand on its own.

Awards This poem won first prize for "long serious poem" in the 1981 Utah State Institute of Fine Arts. Card admits that all the entries in this category won a prize (there were two), though his came in first.

See also List of works by Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card

References

External links Publication information for Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow available from Card’s website "Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" - pg 28-32 - available online from Sunstone magazine

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In 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 Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow 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 Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow 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 Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow

In research: Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow appears in 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 Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow 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: Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1989 poems, Fantasy poetry, Narrative poems, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow 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.

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How to study Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow 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 Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow in simple terms?

"Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" is a poem by Orson Scott Card. The poem was the basis for Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series.

Why does Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow matter?

Because it connects several 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 Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow?

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 Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow.