Illiterate to Literate [closed - new instructors hired!]

[arabmorgan]

username; arabmorgan

date joining; March 19, 2010

posts made; 7230

role-playing level; semi-lit; everyone has different opinions of literacy and what not, so more specifically, 2 paragraphs of 6-7 lines is perfectly manageable for me.

websites role-played on; CS, warriorcatsrpg.com (although that's mostly illit, I must admit)

categories applying for; (a) using mobile site [apple products]; (b) animal roleplaying; (c) critiquing work; (d) developing believable characters [from late teens to thirties]; (e) developing your own form; (f) one on one roleplay tutoring; (g) coding basics.

examples;
(a) I'm not too sure what examples I can give for this, but I've used my iPod Touch to surf CS for quite a few years now; I recently moved on to an iPhone 5, which is the same mobile site but, happily, a lot faster. I'm pretty proficient at it now, I would hope; some of the things I can do on the mobile site include using the search function, posting pretty posts, etc. My posts all look the same whether on a mobile device or the computer, so it's kind of impossible for me to give you an example of my mobile posts ;w;

(b) I mostly roleplay horses, wolves, dogs and cats, be they warrior cats or large cats. Here's a wolf example, a big cat example, a warrior cat example, and a dog example. They're all relatively recent.

(c) I don't usually go around critiquing players' posts when I roleplay, so I don't have any examples of this :c However, I beta for fanfiction, which I feel is vaguely similar. I'm capable of catching most, if not all, errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation. I don't think I'm extremely harsh, but I'm certainly honest about any mistakes or improvements to be made, such as giving other players something to reply to, how to be more descriptive, etc. Here is example one, two, three, and four is quoted below:


Overall, it looks pretty good! I really like the dreamlike atmosphere you're portraying for starclan. It's to the point but not lacking in detail; in fact, you're very descriptive with the surroundings and the cats. It sets the scene quite nicely, I think, not too much info, not too little.

I think the ending could be more cryptic, heh, no need to reveal the cats of the prophecy so quickly? That's up to you, but actually the ending could be left just like that. It seems fine c:

For me, though, the beginning paragraph is a little...draggy. It's descriptive and beautiful, but it gets a little much after the first few sentences, as if you're over-emphasising the perfection of the clearing. Especially with the snowflake sentence, maybe you could tone it down a little with the words like 'grace', 'perfectly unique', 'shimmer', they're all very peaceful, pretty words but it's too much all at once.

Anyway, out of review mode, this seems really exciting! Is this generations after Firestar's death or a completely new set of cats? I would love to see updates on this 8D And the lake froze over from the beginning to the end of the prologue? o.o hehe, but all in all, it's a promising start!



(d) I assume examples here would be character forms with, well, believable characters, so here they are: Jon, Serene, Myra, and Lightningstripe. I have not included examples of male animals, simply because I haven't posted any of their forms recently, but if you would like to see one, I'll be happy to produce it c:

(e) These would be the same examples as (d), I suppose. My human forms are completely developed by moi, while animal forms vary a lot since I tend to add and remove fields as I see fit. I also tailor each character and form specifically to the roleplay; for instance, Serene's history and personality had to be tweaked slightly from her usual to fit the role of a spy. I also helped Being Roshna quite recently with sprucing up her forms; I did this not by telling her directly what to change and add, but I tried to explain her usual errors as well as provided questions to help with her character (How does she feel about her looks? How is she unpredictable? Is she close to her family?).

(f) My current 1x1s that I have going on are one, two and three. These are all pretty semi-lit, and I do 1x1 roleplays with both animals and humans. I'll try to get another one going to have four examples, but the last one might only be low-lit though, as I don't want overtax myself ^^; Here's my fourth 1x1 example, which is lowish-lit but still adheres to all the right grammatical and spelling rules c:

(g) My forms and roleplay posts are all examples of my own coding, as well as this simple 1x1 ad. I can pretty much use all the buttons on the top bar, even though I personally prefer to keep my posts and coding simple. If need be, I can also teach players how to resize images to fit the forums, or use fontmeme and font generators.

illit to lit contest form

[Make_a__Scene]

username;
1000 Umbrellas
date joining;
October 18, 2011
posts made;
1928
role-playing level;
High-semi-literate to literate, depending on the varying personal standards of each
websites role-played on;
ChickenSmoothie, clearly
Heather Brewer forums, which no longer exist
Neopets, ages ago
Indigo Prose
Corpse in My Bed
categories applying for;
Critiquing work
Developing believable characters [late teens to thirties]
Developing younger, out of the norm characters
examples;


James listened through the skirmish of other sounds to the rumble he knew at the rental car's engine as it changed and faded away. So this was it, his home for an undetermined time period. If he wasn't able to be in the same house with five siblings how was he supposed to live here with who-knows-how-many other kids? He made a mental note to check for escape routes; not for permanently running away - where would he go - but just so that he could sneak out for some quiet alone time, maybe. He'd probably forget that he was going to check the windows when he was assigned a room since his jumbled thoughts tended to randomly toss certain notions out of his head, but he was fairly confident it would come back to him if that happened.

If this wasn't a plot for a movie he didn't know what was. But he didn't want to be a part of it. His wrists itched and the grip on the handle of his suitcase tightened, feeling his balms becoming clammy; what a wonderful way to start off this Hollywood horror. As he was wallowing, his suitcase his a rock, causing it to jolt and the small bag at the very top of the stack to tumble off. It was a completely full bag, hardly even room for extra air, and when it hit the cement a couple of brightly-covered spiral notebooks slid out as well as a smaller leather-bound journal. James let out an incoherent sound of displeasure and nearly tipped his other bags over with how much force he shoved them into an upright position. Luckily enough for him, the luggage had the weight to keep them from toppling. He scooped up the books and haphazardly shoved them back into the drawstring bag, pulling roughly on said drawstring to cinch it as tightly as he could. Setting it back on top of the dufflebag, he attempted to lace the drawstring over the handle of the suitcase to keep it in place - like he had with the handles of the dufflebag - but really only succeeded in frustrating himself further. Giving up and just planning to be more careful, he continued the trek.

His eyes weren't wandering much, uncharacteristic for him. They just caught glimpses of the other ants of young people that trickled in peripherally. Some of them he was sure he missed because they were so tiny they eluded his vision until the last second. Although, to be honest, thus far nothing had jumped out at him as particularly unique or intriguing enough to write about. It was just like being back in high school as far as he saw it. Which, of course, was not an ideal of his. From what he'd seen there seemed to be more girls than boys; he supposed that made sense. Eating and attention disorders were more common in the female gender, but it didn't really account for disorders that didn't particularly have a gender preference, like sleep anxiety. Then again, James hadn't even entered the building yet, and there could very well be a fairly even mix of sexes.

Just as James was about to enter the building, a mere five or six feet away, the doors were thrown open and the pseudocastle seemed to spit out a frazzled girl. He was only able to catch sight of her briefly, for soon she was crashing into him; she had bumped into his shoulder, causing him to absorb the impact into a back-step and half-turn of his body. There was enough force that wasn't absorbed though that his suitcase jolted again and knocked the smallest bag to the ground. In the rapid moment of this girl pulling back and just before he heard the sound of his bag hitting the ground again, time seemed to slow. James' dark eyes snapped up to see his agitator, and then snapped back to reality when he heard the crisp thud of his overstuffed bag. Before he was able to turn to pick up his bag, he had to cringe at her blood-turning scream. Was that really necessary? Opening his eyes and straightening his defensive posture, he was fully prepared for the girl to keep running or else yell scolding insults at him. Neither happened. He received an apology instead, it seemed a little offhand and not entirely heartfelt, but it surprised him nonetheless; that just wasn't something he was used to. He didn't say anything back as he picked up the troublesome bag again, this time just slinging it over his back. If you're going to run away then you'd better keep running, Maria, a particularly brash character of his would have said to her. However, James could never be wholly like the characters he wrote about. Partially because he lacked basic human interaction. He marveled at her accent and began feeling a rattle of a muse at the back of his head. Still having said nothing, he unclipped the pen from the notebook in his arms and flipped the cover open. He could easily read the sheer terror in her eyes, even though the eye contact he had briefly made was fleeting; this really was a Hollywood horror. "It's okay," he finally mumbled the response, unaware of the proper beats in normal small-talk.

He was already writing now, though, head bent down as he awkwardly balanced the spiral between his forearm and torso. He would have waited, but things like character notes seemed to be the first thoughts his mind would randomly eject, which was why he was always sure to at least have something with which to write wherever he went. Absentmindedly he clicked his lipring against his teeth as he scribbled rapidly.





Thirteen had been doing this for quite some time. Ten years straight of schooling and then entering this practice right out of grad school, at 34 he was the youngest practicing psychiatrist in the office. Still, he'd been doing this for six years. Dr. Bernard Ark was his professional name; Thirteen, although his unfortunate given name at birth, was not exactly a name that was appealing when attached to his earned prefix. His real name also probably wouldn't be too popular with the patients he worked with who were struggling with paranoia; "Dr. Thirteen" sounded like a demented Sesame Street character. He was the only child psychiatrist in the building at the moment, though he extended his sessions through to adolescents and young adults.

This particular client he'd been working with for about half a month. There was no clear progress yet, but he hadn't expected there to be any. The poor kid couldn't even call his own parents Mom and Dad without squirming. Though with how long he had been held, Thirteen was merely hoping that he would get into the coping phase, not really looking for recovery just yet. Actually, he was doubting any full recovery would ever happen, but pessimism was something he actively tried not to engage in. Being late was something else he actively tried not to engage in, but today he was failing.

He'd gone to an early lunch so that he could get some work done before his appointment. Unfortunately, the rest of the workforce apparently had decided to take an early lunch as well. So instead of getting back early, he was actually running late. Not only was that completely unprofessional, but Thirteen had no idea how Aiden would react to his absence. He'd had clients who had gotten scared and ended up reacting in rather violent ways before. Or had completely broken down to the point of hysteria. He hadn't been with Aiden enough to be able to predict exactly how he'd react, although since he had suffered from Stockholm syndrome and seemed to be struggling with attachment, Thirteen couldn't figure it would be good. Then again, he couldn't exactly flatter himself to say that Aiden had become attached to their little appointments in the small amount of time they'd spent together.

He carefully opened the door to his office, finding the boy pacing along the wall, looking more distressed than he usually did. "I'm sorry I'm late, Aiden," he apologized as he closed the door gently and then swiftly stepped over to his desk, setting his briefcase down before he took off his blazer. He didn't sit down, either, but he did straighten the nameplate on the edge of his desk; apparently it had been bumped and set akimbo. "What's wrong? You seem distracted," he commented. He tried his best to have a normal conversation with his clients; it did no good to make people feel as if they were under a magnifying glass. Needless to say, he was much better at it now than he was when he first started. Still, some people came along who felt like everything he said was some form of psychoanalysis; hopefully Aiden wasn't one of those.


Developing Believable Characters [late teens to thirties]
Developing Believable Characters [late teens to thirties]

Developing Younger, Out of the Norm Characters
Developing Younger, Out of the Norm Characters


Serena watched him with little emotion showing on her face. Although, in her blue eyes there was a hint of empathy. She stayed quiet. Isadore, on the other hand, crawled around the fire and sat on her knees next to Jonathan. "Don't cry," she encouraged, although all she really understood was that his parents had been murdered. "Bad men came into our home, and Father told us to run; we escaped out the back. But we'll see our parents again soon. And your parents are always looking over you."
------------
Panic rose on Isadore's face at the mention of stitches. Her eyes followed Jonathan around the cave. "I-I'm okay," she stuttered. "I'll just tie it back up." She fumbled with the soiled piece of fabric.
"Izzy..." Serena pushed her sister's hand away. "Be brave."
----------
Isadore held a long stare with Serena before she finally looked at Jonathan and extended her leg. "Was your father a doctor?" She dared to ask in a quiet voice. She had never been treated by anyone who wasn't a doctor, and she wasn't aware that common men were able to stitch.
----------------
"Is it gonna hurt?" Isadore's foot trembled as her ocean-blue eyes stared at the deep gash on the bottom of her foot, now very clear exactly how deep it was since it had been cleaned. "Will I be able to walk again?"
-----------
"Do... Do you know Les Petites Marionette?" Isadore sniffled. It was the lullaby that her father would always sing to her, and really one of the only songs she knew.




Bonnie sat on a high stool in the cookie shop, her feet swinging as she swiped the icing off a slice of cake. Strange for such a young girl to be sitting alone, but no one seemed interested enough to confront her on it. And that sure suited her just fine. At the commotion, she looked up quickly, fluidly sliding from her seat and stomping over to the scene. Two grownups ganging up on one kid hardly seemed fair. Smoothing out her cotton dress, she slid in between the little boy and the messy redhead. "Nate, what is it that you've done now?" Her high voice demanded. Her long, light hair was tousled, falling over her face just a little bit.
-------------
Bonnie had smiled at Nate's comment, revealing empty spaces in her mouth where she was missing baby teeth. Unfortunately for her, she had no pillow to put them under for the tooth fairy to surprise her. The next sequence of events happened so quickly that she didn't even know what had happened until Nathaniel had already dragged her halfway out the bakery. She wasn't out of breath in the least by the time they slowed; running was something she was used to. "I was just having some cake," she defended, innocently, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I picked this up," she unbuttoned a pocket on the front of her dress and produced a good-sized stack of five dollar bills, "earlier, and I just wanted some dessert." Some of her fingers were still sticky, because Bonnie was not a clean eater.

illit to lit contest form

[rose;]

City, if we're already instructors, how's this work? Do we still have to 'reapply', so to speak?

And just a suggestion on my part; perhaps there should be a limit on how many classes you can teach? Like, I think that was people's downfall before; they just took on way too many classes and too many people.

[abandoned.]

City, would it be alright if I dropped teaching how to use mobile site?

Oh and do we have tinfoil out the forms if we want to rake on new classes? .-.

[mint.]

username; mint.
date joining; sept 7/11
posts made; 9187+
role-playing level; fairly high semi-literate/literate x x x
websites role-played on; cs and awesomesauce
categories applying for; coding basics/developing your own form (only applying for one of these- so city, pick whichever one!)
examples; shop
character thread
there are over four examples of coding and such, but i can provide more.

illit to lit contest form

[city;]

Can't wait for this to re-open-I would love to have a few lessons from some instructors. Do you guys have an estimate of when you re-open?

About three weeks.
Hopefully.
Because that's two weeks for the contest ... And another week for the instructors to get settled in, and make their post.

City, if we're already instructors, how's this work? Do we still have to 'reapply', so to speak?

And just a suggestion on my part; perhaps there should be a limit on how many classes you can teach? Like, I think that was people's downfall before; they just took on way too many classes and too many people.

No. You don't have to reapply. :}
That would be a good idea, but I think -- while judging -- we can say "this is the limit as to how many classes are allowed to be taught", and pick the users strongest suits, so to speak.

City, would it be alright if I dropped teaching how to use mobile site?

Oh and do we have tinfoil out the forms if we want to rake on new classes? .-.

Yeah. I'll be sure to take you off the list when I get a chance to redo the front. :}
Nope. You're good to go. :} Instructors are allowed to change their classes at any time, so long as there is always the option open.

[- serendipity]

username ;; ιrιdeѕcenт.
date joining ;; Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:01 pm
posts made ;; 2918
role-playing level ;; high semi-literate to literate
websites role-played on ;; chickensmoothie, wasteofinternetspace and [v. recently] awesomesauce
categories applying for ;; 1) growing users from semi-literate to literate 2) developing believable characters [from late teens to thirties] 3) developing your own form 4) coding basics.
examples ;; 1] Since joining the site I've gone from this and this, to this and this.
examples ;; 2] un, deux, trois et four.
examples ;; 3] one, two, three and quatre.
examples ;; 4] all my forms [unless stated other] are coded by myself here, i've coded for others here and here and my signature examples ;; is my own coding here.

illit to lit contest form

[rose;]

Okay city, sounds good, and that seems like a good way to do it.

username; The Burning Rose; subject to a lot of change. Known as Rose.
date joining; Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:55 am
posts made; 7286
role-playing level; literate.
websites role-played on; awesomesauce, indigoprose, howrse, and cs
categories applying for; developing plots, developing believable characters [from late teens to thirties], developing younger, out of the norm characters, developing forms [no critiquing or coding], developing younger, out of the norm characters. [put into my order of preferance]
examples; you don't need one xP

illit to lit contest form

[phenomenon]

username; Phenomenon
date joining; Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:41 pm
posts made; 1,938
role-playing level; high semi-literate to literate - I tend to make pretty long and detailed posts. This applies to critiquing, roleplay posts, and chapter/short story posts. - one : two : three.
websites role-played on; Only Chickensmoothie right now. I did some a few years ago on Howrse. But any examples of that are gone since my account was deleted due to inactivity. :c I do have a new account though. [<added that to clear it up.]
categories applying for; 1) critiquing work; 2) developing plots; 3) animal role-playing; 4) coding basics
examples;

1.] Critiquing work. un, deux, trois, and quatre. So, examples for this, I'm assuming you would like to see how I crituque. cx Here are the pages in the INKLINGS thread/Discuss & Share your Writings forum where I critique a few works. I added some examples where I helped out two people on how to start out and how to continue their story (stories).
-----Depending on what the people want me to critique (whether it be a story, poem, chapter, or even a beginning plot), I tend to take my time reading everything thoroughly and make mental notes on what can be worked on. If they have specific questions, (example; "how is the emotional level in this chapter?"), I answer them to the best of my ability and add any tips as well. Concerning the grammar, spelling, and punctuation, if there are a lot of those errors, I will mention it. Usually I will always mention the errors unless they say that they are still in the process of editing it and just want to know other things besides the grammar. I will comment on sentence structure, point of views, paragraphs, and vocabulary, just to name a few major points.
2.] Developing Plots. un, deux, trois, and quatre. Now...I'm not exactly sure what you want for this catergory. But I can show you some roleplays that I have posted. And I will add two stories of mine. I think that still counts as plot development. cx
-----Honestly, once I get inspired, I will drown you with ideas and plot twists. My mind is really a labyrinth and ideas can pop out of nowhere. xD I have quite an imaginative mind, I think, and I love to brainstorm out ideas. I love to make backstories of my characters because it helps make other users in the roleplay be inspired by me and make their our mini-plots. It also helps when you are trying to develop a character as well.
-----I prefer action, adventure, or anything close to those catergories in a roleplay (plot). Though, I can help with almost any other catergory. Developing drama in a roleplay, whether it's romance or past angers, is one of my favorite things to do. My strongest points are developing action or adventure plots, how to make backstories (developing characters to fit the plot), and developing drama in a roleplay.
3.] Animal Role-Playing. un [dog], deux [warrior cat], trois [big cat - very old post, though], and quatre [horse - short story]. I usually roleplay warrior cats, wolves, dogs, and big cats. I can also do horses, but I don't think I have any current roleplay examples of that. But I do have a short story from a horses's point of view if you would like to see that (it's the fourth [quatre] example. keep in mind it is a short story and done in like an hour and a half or so.).
-----Canines. I think my first ever roleplay was a wolf pack one. And my love for roleplaying soared after that! I really like to roleplay from a dog's point of view. I can do stray dogs, pet dogs, or wild canines like a wolf or fox. I do own a dog myself and happen to know quite a lot about dog behavior. It helps that (i'm a nerd and love to read like crazy) I already know quite a bit about dogs and own one so I can get the idea of how a dog would act. Now, we humans aren't dogs and we know that dogs aren't as smart as we are. (example: they can't spell or write English) But, based on what we think, we can create fun stories from what we guess a dog would do in certain situations. I try to use a wide range of vocabulary for when I roleplay dogs (example: pant, howl, bark, growl, sniff, etc) and elaborate on that a little. Dogs tends to smell and hear better than they see. (As most dogs are color blind) So, having a dog character sniff often and turn his ears once and while adds to the visual picture I want the other roleplayers to see.
-----Warrior cats. I've read just about all the Warrior Cats books (even the special editions) except for maybe two or three. I absolutely love Warrior cats. c: Since I've read many of the books, I know how a Clan runs and what can be done to expand the creativity when one creates a clan or roleplays a warrior cat. I've been in a few Warrior cats roleplays. Two of which I am currently in that are active (but I have yet to reply to. :c so busy). [ Just a side note, I excel in creatiing cat names and plots in Warrior cat roleplays. ] I know the Warrior Code, herb list, and etc. But that all can be changed slightly to fit the setting, plot, and clans. I love to help create clans with their own specific area, StarClan, prey list, and herb list. This is where my creative juices flow a lot, I have to say. cx
-----Big Cats. Now, big cats may be "cats", but they behave quite differently. I know quite a lot about big cats (*cough*and just about every animal*cough*) Cheetahs, jaguars, snow leopards. They all live in different environments so they hunt and live differently. Cats like pumas (also known as mountain lions or cougars) live a solitary life. (Unless they have cubs, then that changes before the cubs will eventually go their own ways) Lions, on the other hand, will live in groups called prides. Usually with one male, though, occassionally a pride will be ruled by father and son(s) or brothers even. So, my point making, I do know a lot about big cats (and all of above in general) so I know how big cats would behave (in general). I know I just gave a lot of facts there, but I wanted to prove that I do know what I'm talking about and I do know how to roleplay these animals. xD Knowing a lot about big cats, I can help others learn about the cat species so they know how to roleplay them out. Because, really, one can't roleplay a cheetah in the snowy mountains or a snow leopard on the savannah. Researching about the species (this applies to all animals) will help you by a lot to know how they behave, how they hunt, and their bodies' physical limits.
-----Horses. (I will try to make this short! So sorry! :s) Just like what I said in the previous paragraphs, I know a lot about horses. Like the differences between warmbloods and coldbloods, for example. I know my horse breeds well enough. Like Thoroughbred, Irish Draught, or Welsh Pony. I think roleplaying from a horse's point of view (fantasy or realistic) is fascinating. Galloping across fields, swimming through rivers, or hurtling over fences are some things I like to visualize to get the feeling of how a horse acts. Although I don't own horses, I did go horseback riding a few times and all the horses I've been on acted different. Horses are very intelligent and their personalities are very unique. Roleplaying horses are definitely a favorite of mine.
4.] Coding Basics. un [thread full of examples], deux [signature], trois [human form], quatre [animal form], and cinq [post forms]. I really love coding. I prefer BBcoding as oppose to HTML or CSS coding. I find BBcoding surprisingly easy to learn (at least, from my point of view) and I believe it will be easy to teach. I am pretty advanced, I should say. I like to toggle things and I figured out certain ways to organize things.
-----The first link is my character thread. The others are specific examples like from signatures to advanced and detailed. (I provided a good variety. Signature, human form, animal form, and post form.)I know how to crop photos, resize them, and all that jazz. So, a lot of the images there were edited by me, but do not belong to me. ALL the forms belong to me unless stated otherwise. Though, I make my own twists and edits to the borrowed forms.

illit to lit contest form

[crescent + cheep]

[ I'm not literate, whale. ]

[ in chicken smoothie standards, you are. ]

[ no I'm not, look at my recent posts ]

username; Mercy / Whale. A shared account.
date joining; Semptember 14th, 2011. But Whale has only been here since late June.
posts made; 3638 in counting.
role-playing level; High semi-lit -- literate for both of us.
websites role-played on; Whale: Just CS.
categories applying for; Whale: Maintaining a role-play, critiquing work, growing users from illiterate to semi-lit+, developing believable characters, developing your own form, developing detailed physical descriptions, and basic coding. The coding and developing your own form isn't a must, but I'd be willing to do it if you were looking for teachers. ^^
examples; Hold on. I'm on my iPad and mercy isn't even here yet. xD

illit to lit contest form

username ;; mercy
- note: actually Mercy / Whale

date joining ;; Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:03am
- note: gmt -1 time

posts made ;; approx 3630
- note: includes the ones made by whale since she joined me on this account

role-playing level ;; semi-literate to high semi-literate
- note: depends on if you're looking at quantity or quality

websites role-played on ;; chickensmoothie & howrse
- note: every one of the roleplays on howrse were illiterate, so just cs, really.

categories applying for ;;

» developing fantasy/humanoid worlds, plots, and settings,
» developing believable characters [from late teens to thirties]

examples ;; working on it

illit to lit contest form