Class

[Zero]

I am ready to begin class.

[Nisorin]

Define Literacy, and in your own words. I WILL check various different sources, including Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Dramatica, various dictionaries and encyclopedias to make sure you aren't simply copying something else.

[Zero]

Literacy means being able to make long detailed RP posts that enhance the purpose of the plot and add on to the story.

[Nisorin]

Elaborate. What does it mean to enhance the purpose of the plot and add on to the story?

[Zero]

Your posts should add twists and variety to the story rather than violate the main purpose of the story, and to enhance the purpose of the plot means to do posts that make the purpose of the plot revealed in detail through the data of your posts which should be lengthy.

[Nisorin]

Wrong. Adding twists to the story is not always a good thing, just as variety is not always a good thing.

And to see how the second part of your post is wrong, define the 'purpose of a plot.'

[Zero]

The Purpose of a plot is to further some aim of the author which for example in my case would be if I used Avidan to attack Terragouve, I would be furthering my goal to gain more land for myself. There is one example.

[Nisorin]

Wrong. The Purpose of a plot, using GE as an example, would be the overall plot. Not personal sideplots, the overall board-wide plot. It's not furthering a plot, the purpose of a plot IS the plot.

[Zero]

Any Assignments?

[Nisorin]

Yeah. Do some research and find out what it means for a board to be a literate RP. This is due by midnight tomorrow, though you should be able to finish by midnight tonight.

[Zero]

Literate RPs have large posts of over 400 words per post at least up to 2500 at some occasions. These RPs donot allow spelling errors or godmodding.

[Nisorin]

Close. Literate rp's often have 250 word posts with very few grammatical or spelling errors, though the actual requirement varies from board to board. They require at least intermediate writing skills as well as realistic, varied characters. They often have multiple plots working around the main storyline, with every member being responsible for furthering these plots.

I won't teach you how to not godmod or creating realistic and varied characters, because those topics are not within the scope of this particular lesson. I want you to pick two other aspects of a literate board, and those will consist of the actual topics taken care of for your Basic level Literacy course.

[Zero]

I need to work on the spelling errors and the length of my posts the most.

[Nisorin]

Alright. First, I suggest switching to a browser that has a built in spellchecker, such as Firefox or Google Chrome. That alone should help a great deal with your spelling problems. Now, for your post lengths, give me four ways you can lengthen your posts.

[K2]

Firefox or Google Chrome.

Sorry to butt in, but as an added note from a technical standpoint, both have a lot better security. Firefox especially. I highly recommend getting one of these browsers.

[Nisorin]

And even besides those two good reasons, Internet Explorer is realy starting to lag behind the other browsers in terms of internet programming standards. At this rate, IE will no longer be able to correctly view many different websites, possibly including forums that utilize CSS for their graphics, like IPBFree and SMF.

[Zero]

I have now downloaded FireFox.
1. I could put in details into the post.
2. I could also make it double spaced.
3. Another way I could do it is to rewrite my post several times in third and first person.
4. I could post a revised edition of the post I originally was going to post that is much more detailed.

[Nisorin]

1 would work, 2 would make absolutely no difference at all to the word count. 3, what? 4: If I think you know enough to be able to lengthen your post well we can try that.

Tell me why 2 won't work, and please explain what you mean by three.

[Zero]

2 wouldn't work since it would merely be adding spaces and not much else. 3 : What I mean is that when I am about to make a post, I will put it in word. I will then rewrite the post in first person three times and then in third person five times and then with the fifth third person one, I shall post it as my post.

[Nisorin]

How would that help you?

[Zero]

It would allow me to remove any godmodding, any spelling mistakes and any other problems with the posts.

[Nisorin]

It will also take eight times as much time.

[Zero]

What do you suggest?

[Nisorin]

I suggest simply learning to avoid godmodding the first time, which Hikaru will teach you about when you take the Don'ts class. As for lengthening your posts, you need to learn to use a decent vocabulary and writing skills to increase the amount of detail in your posts. For example, instead of:

Vailen mumbled a few words, and wings appeared on his back. He then flew over the canyon he was standing next to.

You could use something like...

Vailen, seeing the rather large chasm before him, knelt down and clasped his hands just below his chin, closing his eyes in reverence. "Divus, dare me connatus Alae placeo!" He chants, low and strong as his face lifts up towards the heavens. His face turns quickly into a grimace of pain as the sound of ripping fabric echoes across the empty, rocky plains. He arches his back hard, causing his spine to crack as he screams out in pain, great white-feathered wings bursting from the flesh on his shoulder blades, spraying blood out behind him. Kneeling forwards and panting hard, Vailen slowly rises to his feet, giving his newly acquired, albeit temporary, wings a few beats to test them. With a pained smile, he gives himself several yards of space before the ledge, and takes a slow, deep breath. Charging forth with all the speed his legs can grant him, he tenses his wings and leaps over the edge of the canyon wall, gliding through the air for several moments before angling downwards, accelerating at a magnificent rate before quickly leveling out, and then pitching upwards, just barely making it over the edge of the cliff wall opposite of his starting point.

Now, I am going to give you a situation, and you are going to write two posts. First, using your normal rp'ing style, then useing an expanded vocabulary and detail to lengthen it.

I will give you a day to prepare if you like. Have someone let me know via IM as soon as you are ready. I will then post your situation, and you will have one half hour to post your normal post, and an hour and a half to post your lengthened post from the time I post the situation. You do not have to use up all the time, and I will be using the post times to verify that you posted within the time limit.

[Nisorin]

Hawkeye's situation for his next Literacy lesson:

Yue Yan, a lvl three teenage sage, is confronted by a group of sage muggers, four lvl threes and lead by a level four. All are former soldiers, and so are physically fit, while Yue Yan is a student, and thus of average build. This is happening on an empty street with six foot tall stone walls on either side. Make the first post for both parties.