You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write. ~Annie Proulx
It isn’t just the shape of stories that I love. It’s the shape of the letters. When the words are written in cursive, the knowledge that someone took the trouble to take pen (or pencil) to paper to communicate draws me in. Cursive is more personal than the printed word, even if the sender wrote the note by hand. Yes, I’m aghast at the current trend to eliminate teaching cursive. However, it isn’t just about feelings.
History first, of course.
A Spectrum blog (and other sources) tell us that cursive writing began in ancient Greece and Roman civilizations. They had a practical purpose–to save wear and tear on the writing instrument and to speed up the process. Fair enough. As far as English goes, though, several hundred years passed before cursive was standardized. I didn’t see examples, but I imagine the differences were akin to what you see in font varieties. Some are analogous to stick figures, and some are more like da Vinci’s detailed artistry. All present an image but in drastically different ways. Setting the standard back then didn’t make everyone’s handwriting identical, but it did provide a template. Then came the fly in the ointment.
Who knew that an improvement could destroy what it was invented to assist? (Insert eye-roll here.) Dayspring Pens, among other sites, tell us that in 1888 John J. Loud secured a patent for the first ballpoint pen. He was a tanner, and pencils were too light when he needed to make a mark on the leather. Fountain pens made a mess. He intended to solve both issues with a mechanism that would distribute ink uniformly. Awesome, right? No. Since ballpoints don’t generally smear, users were less careful in their execution. Once mass production began after WWII and computer use became common, penmanship deteriorated further. And we have been perfecting that decline ever since.
Arguments in favor of cursive
Research indicates the continuous flow of cursive writing is physiologically beneficial. One site, How Life Unfolds, neatly summarizes several examples. Here are a few:
- Writing a whole word at a time rather than a letter at a time facilitates understanding of the word.
- Cursive requires less effort to create, thus freeing up the brain to focus on the content rather than the process of writing. One study referenced stated that students who wrote their essay questions in cursive scored slightly higher than those who printed answers.
- Reading cursive writing activates your entire brain, not just the left hemisphere.
- Writing notes in cursive (rather than typing) for educational purposes forces us to select the most important passages to commit to paper since most of us can type faster than we can write. And then we are more likely to remember more of what we heard.
Note that I didn’t vet the research in this article, but it isn’t the only place I’ve seen this type of argument on behalf of cursive.
Why ditch it?
In fairness, not everyone is a fan. If we jump back to the Spectrum blog for a moment, we see that Lucio Bolletieri has no use for what he considers an outmoded form of communication. After all, we do have more efficient ways to write, assuming anything has to be written at all. Bolletieri thinks cursive should be taught in separate classes for students who want to learn it, in much the same way foreign languages are taught. I doubt many students would opt for the opportunity, but sure, whatever.
Further, if students don’t practice consistently, they lose what they learned, and their writing might be illegible. By the time they reach 2nd grade, which is when U.S. students used to learn cursive, they will have already become accomplished at printing. Why confuse these children with what they would see as hieroglyphics? Do we still teach typewriting? Butter churning? Okay, that last part came from me.
Before we write off this post
Yes, it requires effort to learn cursive. Many worthwhile skills are difficult or time-consuming to master. Yes, some cursive is hard to read. So are the results of some hand-printed missives. You can see I’m firm in my preference on this, as usual. I did try to locate an article that would at least give me pause. One I found was called “Why Cursive? Why Not?” by Two Writing Teachers. The further I moved into that piece, the more I could see that the Two Teachers are also convinced that cursive is better. Better for students’ retention, better for their focus.
We are so close to losing the art of gentle conversation and participating in polite, if lively, discussions. Do we have to body-slam every nicety? Will the coming generations have no interest in reading historical documents? Perhaps only a few will want to read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. I get it. But do we really want them to miss out on the ability to read a letter written to their mother from a grandparent who is no longer among us? Will we eventually relegate sentimentality to the dustbin as well?
Asking for one of my oldest friends who still writes me handwritten notes a few times a year. Thank you, Freddie. Please keep them coming. I still see the value in your effort. I hope others do, too.
Why can’t I leave a comment in cursive?
I am the son of a lawyer and my cursive is like his (one tiny step above a doctor), and I’m left-handed so I learned in first grade that I had to tilt the upper part if the page to the right so the fountain pen ink would not be smeared by my left pinky as a moved it across the page.
I’m forwarding this to family. Hopefully they will subscribe!
I have only ever heard wonderful things about your father, and find it difficult to believe he wasn’t careful in his writing. But you knew him and I [sadly] did not. Everyone has an achilles heel. As to the left-handed thing–my son is left-handed, but I don’t remember him using a fountain pen. Different generation. Thanks for forwarding the link, and if you think of a quirky topic for me to cover, please pass it along.
Good post. Had not even thought about cursive in years. typing and texting has replaced writing. Grandmother Perry used to write me about once a month starting when I went to college. I have a few of those and she had a beautiful, almost floral hand. I have one and only one from Dad and it was tough to read but was cursive, sort of.
Back when Grandmother Perry learned to write, letters were the primary form of communication, and how they looked mattered. I have a postcard Daddy wrote me, and you are correct. He had many good qualities, but handwriting wasn’t one of them.
When I am sad, I reread my mother’s letters to me in her hand. They recreate the feelings of that beloved time when she was still a part of my world.
I know exactly what you mean. It’s like hearing the first few notes of a song from your youth – brings it all back in a rush.
I believe that illegible writing is a mandatory class in medical schools.😂 My mom wrote her memoir in cursive and I am glad for it. Every time I receive a note or a greeting card with a message written in cursive, I feel like I’ve discovered an artifact with hieroglyphs. I have a friend who collects fountain pens and she writes messages in beautiful cursive style. It is a lost art.
Indeed, doctors often substitute scribbles for penmanship, and I wonder if it is intentional. I love receiving hand-written notes, but I am not diligent in returning the favor. My cursive isn’t awful, but it isn’t always consistent from one line to the next, and I can certainly move faster by typing. All that said, I hope cursive is not dying and perhaps the attraction to it will be cyclical – like bell bottoms, but much, much better.