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Posted by Victor Best regards,
on January 4, 2013, 11:23 am
Message modified by user VM January 4, 2013, 11:46 am
I am pulling a topic that is now to the middle of this board, so, better start a new thread here.
In reply to my post, Vivek wrote and I quote:
Posted by einv [User Info] on January 4, 2013, 8:01 am, in reply to " I write notes all the time"
i think regardless of how we were taught, most of us in maturity settle down to a practical style of least energy, and more or less "join as it comes" where cursive writing is concerned. I too tend not to spend extra loops to make all letters join. Perhaps this was a device to introduce conformity rendered by the machine age, automatic production lines, etc as highlighted in satire films of the silent era by such auteurs as Charles Chaplin and fritz Lang.
I fully agree.
Beyond question or doubt, modern tendency is for simplification, therefore, all types of superfluous flourishes, like fancy loops and serifs and that kind of things, are no longer neither in much need, nor in use.
Nonetheless, and speaking for myself only, but perhaps for a few others as well, myself too, I use and like to draw a swash at the end of the letter 'e' at the end of a word, whenever it ends in 'e'. As far as I know it doesn't serve any useful purpose, but it doesn't involve much energy spending either, and like Hillary Kelly wrote in an article published in the New Republic, -- link provided by Alan Gordee on December 20 (see post An interesting read on handwriting, Posted by Alan Gordee on December 20, 2012, 8:21 pm) -- it all boils down to this:
"Handwriting is a far more personal creation, a combination of instruction, inclination, and inspiration. It is a personal craft, a signifier of our patented, peculiar ticks and mannerisms."
In fact, it is a mixture of all of that, and a question of mood too: sometimes I join, sometimes I don't, sometimes I put the short exiting swash at the end, sometimes not, other folks use the swash as a ligature to join two letters 'e' placed inside a word, others don't, and so on and so far.
Then, we have the questions of, visibility and readability.
There are letter forms, be it in typing and typography be it in handwriting, that are visible but not faster and easier reading than others. For example, experts say that Verdana (a print and a PC font) due to its shape and spacing, is best visible and readable than many other fonts that are either narrower and compressed, either more unnecessarily elaborated, etc.
Now, for the question of Print versus Cursive.
Both styles have their pros and cons, benifits and adversities.
Briem Gunnlaugur, asserts this, which I find valuable and worth checking:
What is wrong with print script?
Print script comes in many versions. Here’s one.
These letters aren’t joined to each other, and are usually upright. When they are well written, they look tidy and legible. But teaching them to beginners is not a good idea.
Difficult movements
Writing print script is harder than writing joined letters. Somehow, the pen has to get from one letter to another. Moving it on the paper is easier than lifting it. That’s why joined writing came about, and why ordinary handwriting has been joined for nearly two thousand years.
Here’s what happens when you write the print script letter r. It involves a pen lift in the beginning, the middle, and the end.
Jumping in the air
You lift the pen from the previous letter, put it down, and make the stem.
Next you lift the pen, put it down halfway up the stem, and make the second stroke.
Finally, you lift the pen to put it down again where the next letter begins.
Print script has clear shapes and difficult movements. But if the history of writing can teach us anything, it should teach us that movement comes first and lettershapes follow. Capitals, too, have clear, simple shapes and difficult movements. As handwriting, they failed 2000 years ago. If they hadn’t, the lower case letters might never have evolved.
Make learning easy for beginners. Start with a movement. Then teach the shapes.
Twisted paths
Print-script letters haven’t got obvious starting points. Which stroke comes first? What is the right direction? Children don’t always remember. The results may look fine, but they may have been written randomly and backwards. A little confusion at the outset can mean trouble later.
The path of a letter makes little difference in unjoined writing. But when children start to connect their letters, strange habits sometimes come to light. When one letter is finished, the pen should be in the right place to start the next. The right direction and the right order are important. Here’s an example.
Different paths, same shape
Wrong: This letter begins at the baseline on the right. After the bowl has been made, the pen will then end up in the wrong place. The result looks all right, but a joining stroke would start from the top.
Right: Begin on the right side of the letter, close to the top. Draw the elliptical curve of the bowl. Lift the pen. Move it to the top, and put it down again. Make the stem.
Right or wrong, the finished letters both look the same. Print script can be written in any order. It is not a good foundation for joined writing, where every letter should have a fixed path.
Shapes
Print script is not easy to write well. Uneven tilt stands out in letters that are meant to be upright. And an ellipse is not a convenient shape for the bowls. Any kink catches the eye. For beginners, these are unnecessary obstacles.
Habits
The stops and pen lifts of print script are different from the flow of joined writing. Writing movements are hard to unlearn. Getting them right from the beginning is easier. And breaking one habit to master another is really not necessary. (Imagine teaching multiplication tables to six-year olds, and then teaching them new and different tables when they turn eight. Fortunately, six times seven is the same, no matter what age we are.)
For many children, the change from print script to a joined hand is a struggle. Some fail.
LINK: http://66.147.242.192/~operinan/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.5.print.htm
Montessori offers for your consideration a text on their website, titled "Cursive vs. Printing: Is One Better Than the Other?" which is very interesting reading too, and introduces the word DYSGRAPHIA which is difficulty with writing.
It is too long, so I won't copy and paste it here, here's the link:
Cursive vs. Printing: Is One Better Than the Other?
LINK: http://www.blog.montessoriforeveryone.com/cursive-vs-printing-is-one-better-than-the-other.html
To sum up:
There are texts that are fascinating to look at, that is, beautiful in terms of letter forms, and, in terms of visibility, however, hardly, legible, here's an example of Saint Thomas Aquinas almost undecipherable handwriting, it seems some sort of instant shorthand:
LINK:
http://www.fordham.edu/academics/programs_at_fordham_/natural_law_colloqui/
I hope that you all found this post interesting and not boring.
I would also like to know your thoughts and opinions.
Victor
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