Good grief. What next?
I read recently that there is a movement underfoot to cease teaching cursive writing in the public schools. I understand that this is merely a suggestion and is optional, but still …
Like all students from my youth, I labored through the “Palmer Method” learning the “push pulls” intended to teach me to make firm and controlled vertical lines, and those “whorls” to promote a flowing script. I think my muscular control had not peaked. I was never very good at either.
On the other hand, I did learn to write my name and everything else I needed to write, including the answer on the essay tests Miss Strauss was fond of giving. I can’t claim a beautifully flowing handwriting, but it is legible.
Why the push to abandon cursive? Of course kids are virtually weaned with a computer keyboard on the highchair tray. Maybe that has something to do with it? It brings to mind the joke about the kid who first encountered cursive writing and complained, “I can read reading, but I can’t read writing!”
I once marveled over the signature of Queen Elizabeth I in the document room of the British Museum. Good Queen Bess signed with a flourish both beautiful and highly individual. Shakespeare’s signature was less distinctive, but maybe he had to write faster to get all those poems and plays to meet a deadline. All those were done in cursive.
Thomas Jefferson gave us the Declaration of Independence in cursive and there was no typewriter for the Founding Fathers to dash off our Constitution. Abraham Lincoln’s notes for the Gettysburg Address, not to mention his signature on the Emancipation Proclamation, are done in cursive.
Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle dashed off the Sherlock Holmes stories in cursive. I’m not suggesting that we rewrite “War and Peace” in cursive, but it would be a pity if we could no longer read the original Bill of Rights or understand why we wanted to free ourselves from the English Parliament in 1775.
We really do need to know how to sign our name. We still need to know how to sign a lease or a contract or endorse a paycheck. I doubt that a printed signature is the same.
Liz Ciancone is a retired
Tribune-Star reporter. Send email to opinion@tribstar.com.
Liz Ciancone
LIZ CIANCONE: A little bit of cursive comes in handy
- Liz Ciancone
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I saw a robin the other morning. It was not the first robin of spring, of course. A few of the more daring robins had opted to spend the winter and, although they looked pretty sorry about it on a few occasions, it was a fairly mild winter.
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I read in the newspaper the other morning that Punxsatawney Phil is being hauled into court and charged with falsely predicting an early spring. I am volunteering my services as counsel for the defense.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Not every other name smells sweet as a rose
It was either Romeo or Juliet who said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
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LIZ CIANCONE: Innocence appreciated when you’re growing up
I grew up rather stupid. I didn’t realize it at the time. Neither did my teachers who seemed to think I had “promise.”
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LIZ CIANCONE: Years along rivers make them feel like home
I’ve been following plans for celebrating “The Year of the River” with interest. Rivers have played such a role in my life that I’ve celebrated a good many rivers. The Wabash River is merely the most recent example.
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I was asked the other day why I write about dogs I have known, but never about cats. “What’s the matter?” they asked, “Don’t you like cats?”
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My Grandmother lived with us. Ed and I were eager audiences for her family stories about the Cooks. Mom also shared her memories of growing up with three brothers.
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News this past week brought justice of a sort. The folks who decide these things have declined to pick anyone to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.
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Let me ask you something.
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There has been lots of reporting lately about how long movies are becoming.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Resist that big ‘let down’ on the day after Christmas
Today is the big day. That makes tomorrow a sort of let down — rather like “What have you done for me lately?”
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LIZ CIANCONE: No thanks to getting mags delivered via the Internet
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LIZ CIANCONE: Everyone has a favorite holiday
I suppose everyone has a favorite holiday. My guess is that, for most of us, that holiday is Christmas. It's a holiday with a miracle no matter how old we get.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Christmas season puts time back into focus
It’s a funny thing about time. It can speed along so that you cannot believe that your kids can possibly be old enough to have good sense, or it can drag its heels while you wait for that first grandchild or while you are saving up for something really special.
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Why is it called "Black Friday"?
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I’ve been considering a lost-and-found ad to see if anyone knows what’s happened to Thanksgiving.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Magic is always there with live theater
I’m a pushover for live theater. But movies? Not so much. For me it’s like the difference between canned peas and those picked fresh from the garden. Movies even COME in cans.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Maybe the Cubs will win it all next year
I was relieved to have the World Series ending before the snow flies. Heck, it didn’t even last into November this year.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Holiday decorating better when personal, simple
I fear that I am becoming an old poop!
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LIZ CIANCONE: Surprises from mail worth the extra penny
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LIZ CIANCONE: No pet costumes for this Halloween
Ed and I were old enough to know better, but we got our laughs in a rather cruel way. We caused Lady, the family collie, a lot of chagrin by dressing her up in “people clothes.”
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