|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:17 pm
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 clerks were trained to imitate the exact handwriting of the firm. 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.
And 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 be usually taught in second or third grade (around ages seven to nine).After the 1960s, it was reconsidered that the teaching of cursive writing was more difficult than it needed to be. Or else forms of simply slanted characters, termed "italic," were argued as being easier and traditional cursive unnecessary. And also, the copyrighting of handwritten letter forms as a sort of font became profitable. So in the late twentieth century, a number of various new forms of cursive appeared: D'Nealian and Zaner-Bloser are two of them. With the range of possibilities available, handwriting became unstandardized across different school systems in different English-speaking countries.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:10 am
thank you for the Information....
do you have any websites with the fonts?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:50 pm
It's absolutely amazing! I've never heard this about cursives!
And yes, around 2nd and 3rd grade is when I had begun learning cursive. HOWEVER, I'm an epic failure at READING it, and the writing, whenever I try, is illegible due to my incapabilities of writing it very well. [3rd grade was the last time they reminded us about cursive. .___.]
I can't even sign my name in cursive. :C
This definitely intrigued me xD
Thanks for the post :3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:55 pm
That's wonderful! I love handwriting of all sorts; the differences in how people's hands form out the same letters is intriguing.
Cursive has always been interesting to me, but it takes me so long to write. When I'm writing in print, cursive letters usually dot my paragraphs here and there, just enough to confuse people xp I haven't written in all cursive in a long time.. Except to sign my name.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:36 pm
I've definetly learned alot now
cursive looks very elegant, but mine isn't
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 8:30 pm
The state of my own handwriting is a trifle lamentable, but it is improving the more I use it. I'd learned the stuff back in about the 3rd grade or so. The manner in which I held my pencil was apparently cause for considerable consternation and frantic "correction" at the time, which did nothing for me, really, in the way of improving actual legibility. Quite the contrary, in fact. I switched over to typing out everything I could just before ninth grade, putting my newly acquired typing skills to use. I no longer have that computer, but I still have the printer! Now, there's a thing fit for the Smithsonian....
But, I've gotten back into writing tales again, and to keep myself on task (rather than fussing and fiddling with editing the thing as a substitute for actual progress - computers can really encourage bad habits), I've switched back to composing them by hand, and more, I've gone with a fountain pen. This actually is solving many of my problems. I am no longer wrestling with hand fatigue like I had been, because a fountain pen takes the light touch in writing that I actually prefer. That alone has done wonders for my penmanship. I am now spoiled rotten and have come to loathe the ballpoint pen utterly. Little hope for me, it seems!
Still, I can read the handwriting of my favorite author better than I can my own, and the funny thing is how often he dismissed his penmanship as atrocious. Even funnier: I found out that today, I use the same brand pen, and the same brand ink. Neither are made anymore like they were in those days, though!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:15 pm
It is very interesting as a subject. I know my grandparents were having one of their moments where they drift into the "good old days" and were talking about how they had to have cursive down if they were to hand anything in to their teachers in high school. They were surprised that I didn't have to write in cursive.
Interestingly enough, even plain handwriting, "printing", is going out of fashion. When I attended college (the one semester), the teachers wanted reports handed in that had been printed by a computer. Nothing hand written. While I understand that it is easier to point out mistakes and easier to understand, I can't help but wonder what this is doing to the art of printing, be it printing or cursive. Are we, as a society, encouraging bad handwriting? Encouraging carpal tunnel syndrome?
Personally, and this may be old fashioned thinking, I believe that we should strive to hand-write more. When you use a pen and paper, you have more of a connection with what is being written and you think more about what you want to say because there is no backspace. Therefore, hand-writing some thing, it's more personal. To connect this with the original subject, the nicer your hand writing is, the more presentable it looks. If you write in cursive, it is even more presentable. It shows that you wish to make a good impression or, in the case of family, that you appreciate that they are your relative.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 6:48 am
Oh, I love cursive. It's so elegant--especially back then.
I wish schools would teach it more and actually have kids write in it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:54 pm
I've no idea if my handwriting is actually acceptable or if my teachers just gave me up as a lost cause. I'm a hand-dragger leftie, as opposed to a hook leftie- I drag my hand over my writing rather than hooking my hand up over my current line- so no matter how well I wrote, it was more than a little smeared when I was done anyway. Could have been worse- when I dabbled in calligraphy, my work was invariably covered in ink spatters where my nib caught on the tooth of the paper because I was pushing rather than pulling the pen. That was a short-lived phase...
Done right, it looks very nice. I seriously doubt I qualify as 'done right', however.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:33 am
Cursive does look very elegant and nice looking. I can generally read cursive writing provided I take my time.
My cursive is so horrible looking. The only thing I can write in cursive is my name. In the 6th grade I think my teachers gave up on me as a lost cause. I've printed or typed everything ever since.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
High-functioning Werewolf
|
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:26 am
I so wish I could write in cursive. My handwriting is borderline unreadable to begin with, because I mix d'nealian print with cursive. I wish my writing were a little more neat, but usually I'm in such a rush.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:43 am
Trelayne I've no idea if my handwriting is actually acceptable or if my teachers just gave me up as a lost cause. I'm a hand-dragger leftie, as opposed to a hook leftie- I drag my hand over my writing rather than hooking my hand up over my current line- so no matter how well I wrote, it was more than a little smeared when I was done anyway. Could have been worse- when I dabbled in calligraphy, my work was invariably covered in ink spatters where my nib caught on the tooth of the paper because I was pushing rather than pulling the pen. That was a short-lived phase... Done right, it looks very nice. I seriously doubt I qualify as 'done right', however. I think some thing lefties should be taught is how to write lightly. I am a lefty and I write so light. I probably smeared when I was first learning, but in my memory, I cannot recall when I smeared anything. I'm not being mean, but it is something to consider. My palm is the only part of my hand touching the paper so it's make it easier.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:19 am
This is beautiful!
You would never have thought writing in cursive was ever that big of a deal.
I, myself, don't write in cursive. Actually, I forgot how. xd
I hate my own handwriting. I find it sloppy and it always looks like Comic Sans MS. I have no liking to this font. Holding the pencil wrong might have something to do with it but I've held it with three fingers my whole life. It's really hard to just switch over like that.
-
Regards,
Audrey
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:44 am
I see, i knew that cursive was important back than, but that it was THaT important...
My own handwriting is hardly legible, i prefer typing on PC (i can write blind). So i never had the opportunity, to learn cursive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:47 am
I had a co-worker at my first job who told me her teacher would hit the students hands if they didn't write properly in cursive. She was about 30 years or so older than me. BUT, her writing was absolutely beautiful.
My cursive has gone from readable all the time to barely readable due to corpal tunnel. (I damaged my wrist at 18 and have been trying to keep from surgery for 23 years.) If I'm not in a hurry, my writing is very nice. But don't ask to be able to even translate if I'm in a hurry! Sometimes I have a problem reading my "hurried" wrinting!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
