The Death of Cursive
For centuries, cursive handwriting has been considered an art. However, to a increasing number of young people the form is becoming extinct. The graceful letters of the cursive alphabet have been transcribed on innumerable love letters, acted as the method for articulating thoughts in journals and diaries, and have been scrawled across elementary school chalkboards for generations. Yet, cursive is gradually vanishing due to the accessibility to keyboards and smartphones. While the loss of the cursive alphabet may appear inconsequential, recent studies have revealed that in fact the gradual death of the fancier ABC’s instigates concerns for future generations.
In many cultures, such as in the Chinese or Japanese language, there are multiple alphabets containing of thousands of characters. In the English language alphabet, however, there are only 26 letters. Thus knowing how to write each letter in both print and script would only require individuals to memorize 52 characters. A recent news article published by BBC states that in order for an individual to read a Chinese newspaper they “should be able to recognize at least 3,000 characters.” This means that Chinese-speaking citizens have to remember 83% more letters than English speaking citizens. Are Americans really becoming this lazy? Becoming so lazy that people are willingly letting a huge part of their culture disappear because they do not want to memorize a mere 26 more letters?
I’m going to stop scolding all you mac users and iPhone owners on your tendency to type or quickly scrawl out written messages- because honestly I’m in the same position. I hate writing in cursive. Shocking right?! But the reason I hate writing cursive is because I honestly c...
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...he Constitution or Declaration of Independence- the very documents that contain the values and morals of our country. Cursive handwriting is no longer taught in many schools, thus impairing student’s ability to create neural passageways, improve fluency, and gain dexterity. Sure, there is no particular daily need for the delicate script, but letting the writing go extinct is unethical. Many countries describe the USA as lazy and culture poor- we need to prove these other nations wrong. Not only for the benefit of getting a better reputation, but also because we respect our language and want to preserve it for future generations. The death of cursive can cease. There is a vaccine, a cure, an antidote. This cure? Teaching the language in schools once again, typing less and scribing more, and most importantly informing individuals about the value of this set of ABC’s.
To ensure that formal written language is preserved, a clear distinction must be made between formal writing and texting. Students -as well as adults- must also be given sufficient practice in both areas if they are to clearly communicate their thoughts to others through either means. As quoted from Nicole Wood and Becky Wang in their presentation “Is Texting Killing the English Language”, “the most common misuses by students are ... using only the letter ‘u’ … [and] using the letter ‘r’...” These errors in formal essays are often -and in most cases- caused by confusion of the distinction between texting and formal writing, leading to an overlap between the two. The value of formal written language is its ability to clearly and distinctly communicate one’s ideas to another -and because of its overall consistency regardless of time- even those in the future. Texting, in some cases however, loses this ability to clearly communicate thoughts and ideas, and exclusively texting at home could lead to a decline in one’s ability to clearly communicate with others through writing.
Cursive should not be taught in schools! Schools don’t need cursive. There are other things that kids could be doing in class. Read my next paragraph to find out what and why.
For centuries, views of the world and its inhabitants have been expressed through various ways of art or philosophy. These views can often be related to the seeking of truth to the creation of life, politics, or the problems of the world from before, now, and after. Accordingly, it is by paintings, books, or music, that words or images have an abundant effect on people. Society indicates that knowledge is power, so then why are we sometimes burdened with the errors of generations before? The quote, “writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives. The English reading public explains the reason why,” by James Joyce; points out that any novelist, historian, or author writing about our previous failures as humans in history affects any reader in a way that brings up painful memories and leaves the reader with past knowledge. To be honest, I had to grab a chair and think for what seemed like hours before I could actually comprehend what the quote was saying. I thought to myself, “How can writing about the past bring pain to the reader? I understood how writing can bring knowledge to a person, but how can it affect anything in the present?” As Vladimir Nabokov said, “In reading, one should notice and fondle details.” So, I opened up my mind and started to analyze the quote. Then, suddenly it clicked! In The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, Machiavelli has a similar style to this quote in which he explains that any prince should not select anything else for study but the art of war. He declares through studying the histories of the art of war, “A prince will learn of many illustrious men’s causes for victory or defeat; therefore, avoiding the latter and imitating the former.”(Machiavell...
Many were once against typography when it first emerged. One prime example was Plato, who Ong and Postman both mention at some point in their work. In fact, Ong states that “Writing, Plato has Socrates say in the Phaedrus, is inhuman, pretending to establish outside the mind what in reality can only be in the mind. Writing is simply a thing, something to be manipulated, something inhuman, artificial, a manufactured product” (Ong 27). He then goes on to say that many have made the same argument about computers today. However, the essential message from this quote is that many believed that these technologies would have a negative effect on the way we think. Ong goes on to disprove Plato’s rationale by explaining that “…his philosophically analytic thought, including his analysis of the effects of writing, was only possible because of the effects that writing was having on mental processes” (Ong 29). Due to the fact that he was even able to analyze typography meant that he was subsuming to typography’s nature. Postman would agree that Plato would not have been able to formulate his analytic views if it were not for writing. Postman wrote that literacy is highly rational. He iterated that discourse in a culture dominated by print tend to have a coherent arrangement of an idea, a fact, or a claim. Postman would explain to Ong that the cause of this is similar to some of the reasons Plato
Handwriting is a means of expressing language, just like speech. However, handwriting is not taught in school as much as in previous years. In the past, handwriting was taught as a precursor to reading and spelling. Today, students of all ages are rigorously tested on their writing skills, yet they are not allowed the time it takes to develop this skill. I remember writing in a Big Chief notebook, holding a chubby pencil, trying my best to make the curves and lines of the letters just right. When I attended elementary school, the teacher devoted at least forty-five minutes to handwriting each day. Handwriting should still be taught in school because it is an essential first step to reading and expressing one’s thoughts and feelings and because of its impact on higher education.
In conclusion, Cursive writing is very well out dated. We use technology now more than ever. Maybe a new common core standard should be computer skills. As cursive writing holds no benefits to students. The truth comes out, cursive writing has essentially disapeared. So why ever bring it
“One of the most widely cited criticisms of the Common Core State Standards is that they don’t require teaching students to write in cursive.” (Heitin). This has been one of its biggest problems from the day Common Core was
In the article, “Does Texting Affect Writing?”, the author Michaela Cullington conveys her speculation that texting does not correlate to how students write formal essays. At the beginning of the article Cullington introduces the term texting and the convenience texting brings. Later expressing her concern that the texting language “Textspeak” is actually affecting students writing; then contradicts these views by using primary and secondary sources (news articles, books, her own surveys and research). In addition, she uses an anecdote to tell of her own experience with texting and writing. Together with other evidences and research put together, she uncovers the debate between textspeak and formal writing. On the basis of her research, she concludes that the state of texting does not interfere with writing or writing abilities.
With the swarm of technology, handwriting, a vital skill, may be on the brink of extinction, despite that it is able to create a “model citizen, assimilate immigrants, and even reform juvenile delinquents” (Korper). Believe it or not: handwriting is important. However, the debate about handwriting is still questionable. Handwriting allows for effective memory retention and is an significant and unique action to develop certain regions of your brain (Grossberg). However, handwriting is also outdated and lacks the agility of the keyboard (Korper). Nonetheless, some of these positive aspects of handwriting are largely due to the ‘drill’ factor emphasized in the Palmer Method of handwriting used present day (Korper).
It's taking over our lives. We can do it almost anywhere. What is it? It's texting! Texting is a reliable, easy and convenient form of communication that is most commonly used by, but not limited to millenials and those in the workforce. Many people use it as a way to express themselves as well. In Michaela Cullington’s article, “Does Texting Affect Writing?” she targets two different attitudes in relation to texting. Cullington explains that there is often an assumption that students who use abbreviations when they text, will bring those same abbreviations over to their formal writing pieces. Cullington then adds that the other attitude in relation to writing skills and texting insists that texting is harming student’s writing capabilities. Because of her research as well as experiments done by other colleagues of hers, it shows that
Thesis: Cursive writing should be taught in school because children today only know how to hashtag and text. Very few actually know how to write in cursive. Learning cursive will enhance students’ spelling ability and reading skills. It will also help students with learning disabilities.
The Creature That Opened My Eyes Sympathy, anger, hate, and empathy, these are just a few of the emotions that came over me while getting to know and trying to understand the creature created by victor frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. For the first time I became completely enthralled in a novel and learned to appreciate literature not only for the great stories they tell but also for the affect it could have on someones life as cliché as that might sound, if that weren’t enough it also gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of the idiom “never judge a book by its cover.” As a pimply faced, insecure, loner, and at most times self absorbed sophomore in high school I was never one to put anytime or focus when it came time
It was a dark, cold, cloudy day. The clouds covered the sky like a big black sheet, nothing to be seen except darkness that seemed to go on forever. This was the third day in a row that there had been complete darkness, there was no getting rid of it. This was because of ‘the meteorite.’
The aim of this report is to define the history of writing, how the writing system changed through the development of human society.
As the sun slowly settled, darkness began to overcome the Earth. Sickness—had come. The sickness slowly but readily crept into each home. It was the Midnight Theft. The destructive plague stole during midnight—it stole lives. Deep in the heart of Tukenasville, people were dying, and the whole country was beginning to perish. The flowers withered as they bloomed. The mountain peaks crumbled under steer weight. Animals fled to holes to live out the final moments of their life. People were distraught, and chaos was invading every planet in the macrocosm. People called me Nikolaou Gonfalon. I was the last of the Warriors of Phos. Long ago, the Sisters of Moiré ordained my doomed fate. I tried to bargain with them to change it, but in the end, I captured them and locked them up in a repository on a cliff. I was to lead the expedition to find the cure for the Midnight Theft. That, however, was not the reason why I would go on this journey. My best friend, Tolem, was dying of a rare illness called Takigifeay. It was causing the slow built up of lactic acid on his bones. I knew that death would come to him soon. Legend spoke about a necklace that can bring life to anyone or thing. It was said to have been belonged to an Oceanian, one of the water people. The Lost Jade Necklace of Serenity was what it was called, and it could bring healing to the Earth. Nonetheless, it could be the obliteration of mankind, also. I began to pack since my journey was to start at that moment.