Literate? Illiterate, what's the difference? (RP guide & Rant)

[TheApplePie]

*Violently slaps stamp of approval on Twisty's thread*
("Oh no, that was illiterate!)

This is a thread reply to Twisty's thread about people being over-literate. :'D And a bit of a guide to understand what stuff is. MODs, if you find this in the wrong area and want to move it to the tutorials board, no need to inform me. ^^
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Firstly, let's have a look at what the actual term literate means.

It means 'able to read and write'. <-- Right
What other people make it mean 'To be able to write a novel in shakespeare style, full paragraphs.' <-- Not right

Just because someone uses the star symbol (*) and puts their actions in there, doesn't mean they're illiterate.
Just because someone doesn't use the best adjectives and nouns doesn't mean they're illiterate.
Just because someone writes a few sentences or less doesn't mean they're illiterate.

Just because someone writes with full detail about each grain of sand they step on, doesn't mean they're above the rest.
Just because someone knows more about certain species doesn't mean they're above the rest.
Just because someone has roleplayed longer and knows more about it doesn't mean they're above the rest.
Just because someone has a high grade in reading and/or writing doesn't mean they're above the rest.

Because honestly, no one is above the rest. We're all the same.
The main reason I added the whole 'JUST BECAUSE' is to show how they vary, and what people think of themselves as.

So, for example when someone uses a star symbol and doesn't write a lot, and writes with poor detail, HEY.
WAIT. There's DETAIL. *Insert drama here*

As long as people know what they're typing and what they say is readable, they are literate. Everyone that can type is.

Examples of roleplay below;

*Sits on the rock watching the forest around him and the wind blows through her black fur*

People think this is illiterate. Okay? I don't get how it is. They put description of the character,the action and setting. 3 main things for good roleplay.

'The ebony furred she-cat leapt up onto the dusty boulder, ears quivering as the strong wind pushed against her thin frame. Her hazel eyes scanned the area, each detail of the dense forest standing out in front of her wide cat eyes. She flicked her lengnthy tail and groomed her paw, licking it gently with her rough tongue and rubbing it over her forehead.'

OKAY. That's great, but it doesn't mean you're some sort of god writer, you're as good as the person in the first example.

NOW. Group literacy, illiteracy and semi literacy.
A literate group uses the example 2 style.
An illiterate group uses the example 1 style.
A semi-literate group uses a mix of both styles.

Although I believe they are all the same, this is just a way to classify roleplay skills. but with the WRONG. WORDS.

What does 'semi' mean?
Semi means half and/or split. Semi-literacy is when you use both styles, like I did at the start of my roleplay life.
The only thing you add to literate to make some one illiterate is I, right? I-literate.
So, I, meaning 'you' is that there is no classification untill 'you' add it.
MIND=BLOWN

That was a lot. But aye, someone's got to rant about it.

[Kerriki]

-Agrees with you 9485739.4573%-

This bothers me... doesn't anyone know the true meaning of literate and illiterate? Glad you posted this topic, Fixl

[TheApplePie]

I'm glad you agree. c:

[Wyldercat]

I also agree. In fact, not long ago, I made a similar rant, but mine was inclined more towards wolfspeak, and how some of these people get a bit snobby about it.
Anyway, great topic. I'll be sure to follow it.

[Muralles]

This, 100000 times this

I actually migrated along with my entire RP community from a different MMORPG (FreeRealms) where all of the rp was put in between little action indications (-like so-)

What I find particularly INFURIATING is when people automatically assume we are some sort of "illiterate trash" quoting a group we encountered.

I'm sorry, but honestly what is the point of judging someone in an RP when the whole objective is simply to describe an action, whether in between lines, stars, in the third or first person, as long as you get your point across, what's the matter?

Writing isn't about putting the most words into a single action, it's about describing something adequately with a reasonable amount of words. Wolfspeakers and picky literates need to get off of their high horses, in my opinion.

[Tapz]

yes yES YES! This. <3 Thank you so much for this! it's like spoken out from my mind
I really hope that this post gets noticed and that people on the game will take note of it.

[TheApplePie]

I'm glad you agree spot on the word, thank you. c:

[Whinp]

I agree with you 100%, I'm too lazy to write god-like-super-long-pharagraphs-omg-so-much-text-to-read-no-one-will-ever-read-it-anyways roleplays, and so I use the ** and -- method. Wastes less time and is more understandable if you ask me

I remember people coming to me and saying, "you're illiterate so get out", I replied that literacy was basically being able to read and write, they just replied, "that's still illiteracy!11!!11 get ut"

-.-

[peete]

(When I do roleplay, I prefer to be around people that use appropriate capitalization and punctuation, because for me personally it's easier to read and helps me get into the rp more. Remember, that's just me >:[ ) Just because I roleplay with people who use good grammar, doesn't mean I don't have friends who don't.

So if being illiterate means you don't have the ability to read and write...not using appropriate capitalization at the beginning of sentences and using apostrophes is TECHNICALLY being illiterate, in a sense that one does not know how to lay out a proper sentence.

But that doesn't give anyone the right to discriminate just because. I agree totally with...well what everyone else said. ._.

[Nephrite]

I agree, although literate, semi-literate and illiterate are kind of universal terms to indicate writing skill.

I tend to use the term advanced more than literate, since it's more than saying "we're literate"... meaning that you have the capability to read and write, if that makes sense.