Author Topic: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News  (Read 20066 times)

Offline AndyT

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2093
  • Karma: 150
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #75 on: June 22, 2017, 01:23:33 PM »
Here you go, another view:

Who cares if Cursive Writing becomes Extinct?

Discuss.  ;)

Offline AnasaziWrites

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2402
  • Karma: 168
  • Ad astra, per aspera
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #76 on: June 22, 2017, 02:20:34 PM »
Here you go, another view:

Who cares if Cursive Writing becomes Extinct?

Discuss.  ;)
Here I was under the impression that Neanderthals could not read or write. My bad.

Where to start?

"read all the internet about cursive writing." Really?

"arguments for it can be summed up as . . .." That's it? Read the all the internet about cursive writing and that's all you found?

". . . the problem with hand writing [sic]:  No two people do it the same way." That's a problem?

An iPhone and emojis solve all the world's problems, amiright?

Offline Elisabeth_M

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 459
  • Karma: 28
    • View Profile
    • Instagram
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #77 on: June 24, 2017, 07:12:33 PM »
I've never liked the argument, "There are machines that can do that for us."  I've had several people tell me that when they see me knitting a sock.  The implication is that the only thing that matters is how quickly one can have a finished product. Process and quality of the product should also be important factors.
Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.  --Carl Sagan

Instagram

Offline Inked botanicals

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 544
  • Karma: 36
    • View Profile
    • My Instagram
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #78 on: July 14, 2017, 10:30:50 AM »
Here you go, another view:

Who cares if Cursive Writing becomes Extinct?

Discuss.  ;)

I think that person is just frustrated because he was forced to use his non dominant hand to write. The activity was harder for him so he hate it. Well, I hate ball games. And I was forced to practice football, basketball and so on at school. But I don't think those activities should be chosen by the kids. Kids should learn a minimum of everything. Of course, then, no one would be good at everything and no one would need to be a specialist on everything. But that comes later in life.

I do love writing. I write by hand (with a horrible penmanship!), I practice calligraphy as much as I can, I take notes on my iPhone and I carry an agenda in my backpack. I love vintage typewriters and I can use a computer keyboard quite fast. I love emojis and unusual words. And I don't think using any of those tools make me want to quit using the rest of them.
Alba.

Instagram: @inked_botanicals

Offline AndyT

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2093
  • Karma: 150
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #79 on: July 26, 2017, 05:21:33 PM »
Another article listing the now-familiar arguments for cursive:

Keyboards are overrated. Cursive is back and it’s making us smarter.

I like the last paragraph.

Offline Elisabeth_M

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 459
  • Karma: 28
    • View Profile
    • Instagram
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #80 on: July 26, 2017, 07:18:41 PM »
Another article listing the now-familiar arguments for cursive:

Keyboards are overrated. Cursive is back and it’s making us smarter.

I like the last paragraph.
One reason I like Montessori education is the maxim that we learn best through the work of our hands.  For this reason, in many Montessori teacher training programs, you are only allowed to take handwritten notes.  What the article says about trying to capture a word for word transcription of a lecture or seminar rather than taking notes, is familiar to me after reading about and learning Sketchnoting (related TED talk about doodling here, that is, the idea that you retain more if you synthesize what you hear in some way rather than copy it down verbatim.  That's certainly true in my own experience, and I've heard other people say the same thing. 

Slightly related:  The author of that article says that they made the same exact motion for each letter when typing the word "typing".  If that is true, she was not using a touch-typing method since the finger movements would have been different for each letter (except for i, of course, since it appears twice).  Another dying art.  I took a year of typing in high school and by every single measure it was the most useful class I took in high school and worth every second and more.
Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.  --Carl Sagan

Instagram

Offline AndyT

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2093
  • Karma: 150
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #81 on: August 24, 2017, 07:34:12 PM »
And another one:

Whatever happened to penmanship?

This raises a few questions, rhetorical and grammatical as well as calligraphic - but I leave that for you, dear reader, to judge.

...

But where do you get a scarlet quill?  From a macaw??   ::)

Offline JanisTX

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 1305
  • Karma: 65
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #82 on: August 24, 2017, 08:43:56 PM »
@AndyT :  my money is on a *dyed* red quill!  Interesting article!  Thanks for sharing!!

Janis

Offline AnasaziWrites

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2402
  • Karma: 168
  • Ad astra, per aspera
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #83 on: December 29, 2017, 10:26:31 AM »
"'I Wish You Bad Luck,' He Said With Good Intentions"

This provocative title led me to read what I found to be a very interesting article in today's paper, the last five paragraphs of which being most germane to our forum.

So, dispel your dysgraphia and channel your inner Jane Austen.


« Last Edit: December 30, 2017, 10:38:04 AM by AnasaziWrites »

Offline Ken Fraser

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2295
  • Karma: 174
  • Calligrapher
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #84 on: December 30, 2017, 05:43:54 PM »
For a time, I worked as a calligrapher at The Court of The Lord Lyon in Edinburgh where there are housed in Register House, a great many historic documents. archived and preserved for future generations.

My point is simply one of practicality. If the historic content is to be of any value, it obviously has to be read and understood. Handwriting doesn't have to be ancient to be problematic. Go back as recently as 150 years and there would appear to be  many, today, who can't write or read the basic everyday scripts of the day. Aside from the issue of the aesthetics of hand-production on which we mostly agree, unless there is a change in attitudes and a concerted effort in education, a great deal of past information will be lost forever. I know and appreciate  that the emphasis in this topic is concerned with the continued use of hand lettering, but the ability to read and understand the basic information on relatively recent documents is surely just as important for our heritage.

Ken
   
« Last Edit: December 30, 2017, 05:45:32 PM by Ken Fraser »

Offline AnasaziWrites

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2402
  • Karma: 168
  • Ad astra, per aspera
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #85 on: January 01, 2018, 01:01:44 PM »
If the historic content is to be of any value, it obviously has to be read and understood. Handwriting doesn't have to be ancient to be problematic. Go back as recently as 150 years and there would appear to be  many, today, who can't write or read the basic everyday scripts of the day.
Sadly true, at least in this country. It's a small step from not being taught cursive to not being able to read it.
Quote
Aside from the issue of the aesthetics of hand-production on which we mostly agree, unless there is a change in attitudes and a concerted effort in education, a great deal of past information will be lost forever.

Some information will be lost, as you say, if not read in the original script. Take for example, the Declaration of Independence (US). The basic information is unlikely to ever be lost, as it has been transcribed into many formats and places. But there is a difference between seeing the, say, the signature of John Hancock in some typeface (eg. Times Roman) and seeing the actual reproduction of how it was signed. The signature was large and bold and placed squarely in the middle of the line, unavoidable and assertive, a declaration.
 
Quote
I know and appreciate  that the emphasis in this topic is concerned with the continued use of hand lettering, but the ability to read and understand the basic information on relatively recent documents is surely just as important for our heritage.
Yes, what is current today will some day be history. What's not understood now will not be understood later, most likely, unless it needs an historical perspective to be fully understood.

Offline Erica McPhee

  • Administrator
  • Super Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7201
  • Karma: 332
  • Be brave. Love life!
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #86 on: January 01, 2018, 02:59:11 PM »
What a great article and wonderful speech. Such words of wisdom.

I'm happy to report my daughter's 8th grade Language Arts teacher is now giving extra credit for homework passed in that is written in cursive. She gave an exemplar to each student so they could practice. I could't believe my eyes when I saw my youngest practicing her cursive! Something I had to cajole her into when we were homeschooling. Multiple bonus points to that teacher!
Warm Regards,
Erica
Lettering & Design Artist
Flourish Forum Shop
Instagram

Offline claire lander

  • Junior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 84
  • Karma: 4
  • waves_and_grace
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #87 on: January 01, 2018, 03:07:19 PM »
Oh @Elisabeth_M how I agree re typing - I learnt during a secretarial diploma aged 21 - a significant proportion of which has long since evaporated from my grey matter, but touch typing still stands as the most useful skill I EVER learned - bar none :-)...
dreamer...

Offline AnasaziWrites

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2402
  • Karma: 168
  • Ad astra, per aspera
    • View Profile
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #88 on: January 01, 2018, 05:04:17 PM »
What a great article and wonderful speech. Such words of wisdom.

I'm happy to report my daughter's 8th grade Language Arts teacher is now giving extra credit for homework passed in that is written in cursive.
Interesting incentive. Just exactly what does a language arts teacher teach?
Quote
She gave an exemplar to each student so they could practice.
.
Did you see the exemplar? I'd love to see what they are teaching these days if you can post a copy.
Quote
I could't believe my eyes when I saw my youngest practicing her cursive! Something I had to cajole her into when we were homeschooling. Multiple bonus points to that teacher!

Offline AAAndrew

  • Super Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 1022
  • Karma: 121
    • View Profile
    • The Steel Pen Blog
Re: Penmanship, Cursive, and Letter Writing in the News
« Reply #89 on: January 01, 2018, 11:33:37 PM »
Language Arts is what we used to call “English” class.
Check out my steel pen history blog
https://thesteelpen.com/