- For the indie rock band, see Cursive (band).
Cursive is any style of handwriting in which all the letters in a word are connected, making a word one single (complicated) stroke. In British English, the phrase "joined-up writing" is far more commonly used, while the term "running writing" is sometimes used in Australia. Cursive is considered distinct from the so-called "printing" or "block letter" style of handwriting, in which the letters of a word are unconnected, and from "print-writing", which is a cross between cursive and printing, with some unconnected letters and some connected.
History
In the handwriting of William Bradford, in the early seventeenth century, most of the letters were separate, but a few were joined as in a cursive hand. By the late eighteenth century, a century and a half later, the situation had reversed; in Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence most but not all of the letters were joined. The presentation copy of the Declaration, written professionally a few days later, was written in a fully cursive hand. Eighty-seven years later, in the middle of the nineteenth century, Abraham Lincoln drafted the Gettysburg Address in a cursive hand that would not look out of place today.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, before the development of the typewriter, professional correspondence was written in cursive. This was called a "fair hand", meaning it looked good, and all clerks in a firm were trained to write in the exact same script. In the early days of the post office, letters were written in cursive — and to fit more text on a single sheet, the text was continued in lines crossing at 90-degrees from the original text. Block letters could not do this.
Although women's handwriting had noticeably different particulars from men's, the general forms were not prone to rapid change. In the mid-nineteenth century, comparatively few children were taught cursive, and as it was an important skill, more emphasis could be placed on learning it; there was no pervasive striving for efficiency in the classroom. Few simplifications appeared as the middle of the twentieth century was reached. An example of the timeframe in which cursive came to be taught is that in the United States, it would usually be taught in second or third grade (around ages seven to nine).
After the 1960s, it was decided that the teaching of cursive writing was more difficult than it needed to be. Forms of simply slanted characters, termed italic, were argued as being easier and traditional cursive unnecessary. Also, the copyrighting of handwritten letter forms as a sort of typeface became profitable. Because of this, a number of various new forms of cursive appeared in the late twentieth century; D'Nealian and Zaner-Bloser are two of them. With the range of options available, handwriting became unstandardized across different school systems in different English-speaking countries.
With the advent of computers, cursive as a way of formalizing correspondence has fallen out of favor. Any task which would have once required a "fair hand" is now done using word processing and a printer. Increasingly, the teaching of cursive is being de-emphasized in schools, and is generally reserved only for situations such as timed tests with large writing portions, where it is considered faster, although this use too is falling out of favor.
Victorian Modern Cursive
Victorian Modern Cursive originates from the state of Victoria, Australia, and was first used in 1985. In addition to Victoria, it is used in Western Australia and, to some extent, the rest of Australia. The most traditional of about six writing forms, specialized for either the left or right hand, it is based on French cursive handwriting, and therefore features a "p" and "b" with open bowls such that the letters look like "n" with a descender and "u" with an ascender, respectively, as well as an "x" formed from two semicircles. It differs particularly in its use of a block-letter "r" rather than a half "r", reduced loops and onsets, and slanted print-style capital letters similar to the "italic" schoolchildren's writing forms. The other writing forms do not have loops. This style of writing is taught primarily in primary school
More samples can be seen on the Victorian Government's early years of schooling webpage.
Criticism of Cursive
- Cursive writing is increasingly denounced as out-of-date and obsolete [1]
- Although the efficiency of cursive is debatable, there is no doubt that it is becoming less prevalent [2].
- Cursive can't be used to fill in forms, and confuses OCR software, including the machines used to sort mail[3].
- Some left-handed people may be at a greater disadvantage with cursive than printing [4].
- Research shows that the fastest and most legible handwriters do not adhere to cursive style. For instance, highest-speed, highest-legibility handwriters join only some, not all of their letters (they skip the more difficult joins, and use only the easiest joins) and they do not use exclusively cursive letter-shapes . Citation: Graham, S., Berninger, V., & Weintraub, N. (1998). The relationship between handwriting style and speed and quality. Journal of Educational Research, volume 91, issue number 5, (May/June 1998), pages 290-297.
- College Board statistics on the handwriting used by high-schoolers in essay examinations (such as the essay section which the SAT exam added in 2004) consistently report that only 15% of them write their essays in cursive.
Arguments for Cursive
Cursive writing may be more challenging to learn than print, but cursive is easier once mastered. One letter flows smoothly into the next with no need to constantly pick up the pencil point and put it down again. Picking up the pencil point less often means faster writing, which is especially useful when taking notes (Learning Disabilities Support 2007). While computers are in many cases replacing pen and paper, many students still need to take notes the old-fashioned way, computers being expensive and not always available, especially to economically underprivileged students.
Being able to write faster means being able to put one’s ideas on paper before the mind forgets, the same advantage enjoyed by those who can type properly using all fingers instead of "hunt and peck." Until every student has constant access to a computer in every class, fast and easy handwriting will remain a very helpful skill. Unfortunately, many students never appreciate the quickness and ease of cursive because they do not practice it enough to become proficient, reverting to print under the mistaken assumption that cursive is just harder. If students were taught cursive from an early age, given ample time to practice, they would understand its advantages over print. Instead, many schools teach three years of print and then give only limited instruction in cursive for part of one year. Teachers may even forbid students to write in cursive except when signing their names. Teachers may justify this by saying that students' cursive is often illegible, but that is precisely the reason that students need more opportunities to write in cursive - for practice - instead of being required to print everything except the signature.
Which brings forth another point for teaching cursive. Even with electronic technology, a cursive signature is necessary. At a store one has to sign one's name on a digital screen, even if ink and paper have been eliminated. It is not enough for students to be taught to print their names; they still need to be taught to write their signatures, which will require at least basic instruction in cursive.
Some may say that in spite all of this, cursive is still too difficult. The capital letters are indeed challenging, but they can be introduced briefly before spending most instructional time on the more-important lower-case letters, which can be written in cursive even if the capitals are still printed. Students could even be invited simply to print capital letters and just write the lower-case ones in cursive, especially when doing time-limited assignments. Otherwise teachers could introduce simpler forms of cursive capitals, with fewer loops.
As for the lower-case cursive letters, there is no reason to think they are much harder for students than printed letters. Actually, cursive lower-case letters may even be somewhat easier since they require fewer straight lines and slant more naturally than printed letters, which may be easier for students than the straight up-and-down lines of traditional manuscript.
Furthermore, cursive may be especially useful for certain students with learning disabilities such as dysgraphia. Cursive has fewer letters that are mirror images of one another, such as the printed b and d, and so may be easier for students who are prone to mixing them up. In some schools, students with such learning challenges are taught cursive before print (Zieman).
References
"When Your Child Experiences Difficulty with Handwriting: Manuscript Versus Cursive". Learning Disabilities Support: Helping Children with Learning Problems. Retrieved January 14, 2007 from <www.ldsupport.homestead.com/handwritingskills.html>
Zieman, Gayle. "Nonverbal Learning Disability: The Math and Handwriting Problem". Retrieved January 14, 2007 from <www.nldline.com/nld_gayle_zieman_nm.htm>
See also
External links
- Lessons in Calligraphy and Penmanship, including scans of classic nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century manuals and examples
- The Golden Age of American Penmanship, including scans of the January 1932 issue of Austin Norman Palmer's American Penman