Literacy and Penmanship, a Vanishing Form of Common Expression

[Tsalagidave]

Literacy and Penmanship, a Vanishing Form of Common Expression
By David Rodgers

In the new age of keyboards and touch screens, we have silently lost one of the most valued personal skills that has been honed and perfected since ancient times.  The penman's hand is now a strange curiosity that is occasionally encountered art faires or historic events. What was once practiced by men and women of obscurity to great fame throughout countless generations is now almost gone.

Along with the loss of writing skills, our literary practice is also on a decline.  This is important to note that penmanship, poetry, and common prose are all inextricable from the influence of literacy. A 2013 study by the Pew Research Center revealed that 23% of the Americans they surveyed had not read a single book that year.   Seven years earlier (2006), the sampling was 16%.  

While technology is convenient and has greatly improved our quality of living on so many levels, we should always consider the cost paid in the pursuit of luxury and convenience.  It is not an obtuse question to ask.  I love innovation and progress.  It allows us the ability to do so much more but if we are not careful, it may also strip us of the finer points that define our humanity.  As the new generations prefer texting and social media over interpersonal contact, the opportunity to hone the social acuity needed to read and relate to one another fades.  There is a correlation between "textese" used by younger generations and how it is being linked to poor reading and writing skills. It is even addressed by experts such as Crispin Thurlow in his work "From Statistical Panic to Moral Panic: The Metadiscursive Construction and Popular Exaggeration of New Media Language in the Print Media".

This article is not meant to condemn technological progress, nor is it a rebuke to the generations of tomorrow.  Rather, it is a call to any individual who reads this to realize that there is a beautiful seed within our being and it may be awakened so long as you would deem it necessary.  Once this beautiful gift is allowed to take root, you will be able to cultivate it in ways that will greatly enrich your experience in this life.  All of it begins with the stroke of a pen...

What You May Not Know About Traditional Penmanship

Not that many 19th Century Americans were Illiterate: Penmanship is often misunderstood.  It was not a privilege reserved exclusively for "Lords and Ladies"; it also graced the hands and voices of "commoner" alike.  According to the US Census of 1850, illiteracy of native-born white Americans was less than 5%.  Despite the conditions in foreign lands and prohibitive efforts of antebellum slavery against literacy, the "free colored" and "foreign white" demographics of society were reported to have only an 8.24% level of illiteracy.  While the quality of individual penmanship would have varied in quality form person to person, the pursuit of gaining sophistication in speech was considered a worthwhile endeavor.


It was a necessity to everyday life:  There are countless documents and ledgers in existence that attribute to the importance of literacy.  From a rich business owner to a common farmer, correspondence was maintained; contracts had to be understood; agreements had to be signed; business needed to be conducted and invoices paid.  Amid a humble 19th century farmhouse on any given day, it would not have been an unusual sight for the housewife to be working busily at her desk writing letters, paying invoices, and "keeping the books" with the same proficiency as any corporate office worker today.

Penmanship served as a form of identification:  In many old books and films, you may hear someone say "I have a letter here and it is written in his hand..."  People then were not only capable of associating an individual with their particular writing style; they could tell if someone was attempting to fake another person's hand as well.  As you develop your own writing skills, you will naturally acquire a sense of being able to forensically determine a lot about another writer from the intricacies of his/her marks.  This was a common skill that was necessary in the days before photo identification.  Likewise, if you become known for having an extravagant writing style, it will be even more difficult for criminals to forge your signatures without being easily exposed upon closer examination.

In summary:  Penmanship is part of a ritual designed to slow you down long enough to focus on your message at hand and convey it effectively.  As with my previous generations, I take both pride and solace in the strokes and flourishes seen in a well written letter.  Writing is no longer a hated chore but a soothing pleasure.  I am certain my forbears would say the same.

[Kent Shootwell]

My wife has suggested that we start a business to read and transcribe letters written in cursive for younger folks, the idea has merit.

[Tsalagidave]

I think that's a good idea.  Modern generations no longer have an eye for understanding script writing.  The modern "Palmer Method" of writing was standardized in American Schools by 1920.  It still bore a lot of similarity to mid 19th century script despite the dominance of Spencerian which was standardized in American schools in 1857.  Spencerian was a simplified version of the various forms of Copperplate that pre-dated it going back to the origins of "Modern English" at the close of the 17th century.

It is enjoyable as well as an artistic element of our culture that we should endeavor to preserve just as much as we do for our pioneer spirit of self reliance and rugged individualism.

-Dave

[Navy Six]

Thanks, Dave, an excellent article. This topic has been an interest of mine for some time. As a young student in parochial schools in the 1960's, penmanship was stressed no matter the subject. I still receive comments about my penmanship today, which causes me to smile just a bit. I admit to being somewhat irritated at the acceptance of so called "Doctors writing" whether true or not. When someone's health may depend on the prescription a doctor writes that is no time for misinterpretation. I continue to try improving my penmanship, or at least not let it slip into sloppiness. It is just a matter of principle for me. My wife is a 6th grade teacher(I am a retired teacher) and a couple of years ago she wrote some notes in cursive on the blackboard. Many of the students explained they couldn't read it!

[Professor Marvel]

My Thanks Dave for a well-thought out monograph!

My wife is a 6th grade teacher(I am a retired teacher) and a couple of years ago she wrote some notes in cursive on the blackboard. Many of the students explained they couldn't read it!

Yes, Navy, I fear it is the end of the world as we knew it.
"told ya so. yup, saw it right off"

yhs
prof marvel

[Coffinmaker]

I Remember When.  Folks who are properly seasoned always start their comments with these three words.   I remember when ALL my examination papers had to be "Hand Written."  Most folks didn't own Typewriters and to present something typewritten, it had to be transcribed.  I actually took "Typing" as an Elective in High School.  Got ribbed terribly.  Then I explained there were 28 Girls and ME in the class.  Then Time Went By.  Funny that.  Went from manual typewriters, to Electric Typewriters but most things still required the written word to be transcribed.  You had to know how to write.  Of course, first you had to know how to read. 

Then Computers happened.  With Printers.  Computers also had Spell Check.  Didn't even have to be able to Spel Gud.  Then came "Auto Correct" (I dearly hate auto correct).  The real nail inna koffin has been texting.  Don't even use real wurds.  Don't have to know how to type.  Blabber Thumbs.

The up and coming tech is now voice recognition.  You can speak your message and the machine will put it on the screen or the printed page (you do have a printer... right??) for you.  The Facsimile (send me a fax?) has come and gone (e-mail), The letter has come and gone (e-mail).  I have some really nice mechanical pencils and some really nice pens.  School is being taught with electronic tablets.  I wonder if kids will even know what pens and pencils are.

OK.  I'll shut up now 

[pony express]

My daughter has been working on Cursive in second grade, I started her with some worksheets printed off the internet last summer, though. Don't want her to follow in my "chicken scratch" footsteps. So far her writing (Printing) gets lots of compliments.

[Tsalagidave]

My Thanks Dave for a well-thought out monograph!


yhs
prof marvel

Thanks Prof.

[Tsalagidave]

It's good practice to download some versions of the Copperplate alphabet and just practice away at it, taking phone notes, and other casual writing.  It takes something boring like handwriting and turns it into a sketch art form.  I think this is a great project to keep working on with your daughter.

-Dave

[Mogorilla]

I too took typing as an elective as a freshman.  I was the kid who kept getting the blinders on as I kept looking at my hands.   I took it strictly because it was a prereq for taking computer programming.  Funny, I think I made the minimum of typing 45 words a minute to get a B for the semester.  Now with the time I spend on the computer I bet I am near 90 and never look at my hands.  Ha. 

I like to send out emails to my co-workers about Pirates.  I am a big proponent/celebrator of International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19).  The hows and whys of me celebrating are too long to put here, but I have written songs, poems and histories, all sent to annoy/educate my coworkers.  (Oh, thanks Dave, I stole some of your Filibuster text last year!). Anyway, sometimes I put the email in a script font.   I found the number of people who had to cut/paste to change the font to be able to read it disturbing.  (oh, yeah nerd alert, I totally had Darth Vader in my head for that last line).   So, yeah days of blue book exams are gone.  I remember teachers not accepting anything that was printed, we were adults after all.   Now, I seldom see cursive.   

[Coffinmaker]

Anybody else learn from a McGuffie's Reader??

[Tsalagidave]

th

Anybody else learn from a McGuffie's Reader??

I'm very familiar with them but I did not gain my primary education from them.  I did learn to read, write, comprehend, & be philosophic from  from other 18th-19th century texts though.

I always thought the McGuffies were very well laid out.

-Dave