Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!alberta!cdshaw From: cdshaw@alberta.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: Handwriting Message-ID: <195@pembina.alberta.UUCP> Date: Fri, 23-Jan-87 16:14:54 EST Article-I.D.: pembina.195 Posted: Fri Jan 23 16:14:54 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 24-Jan-87 19:36:57 EST References: <1145@rti-sel.UUCP> <3968@utcsri.UUCP> Reply-To: cdshaw@pembina.UUCP (Chris Shaw) Organization: U. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Lines: 73 In article <3968@utcsri.UUCP> greg@utcsri.UUCP (Gregory Smith) writes: >Yes. I have a G in may name. One day when I was about fourteen, I took a >good hard look at this alleged cursive uppercase "G", and decided that >if it looked like a G, I was Idi Amin's grandmother. I now sign my name >using a G which looks a bit like a large, somewhat degenerated '6', and >which may or may not be joined to the following letter. I encourage >everyone else in the world to do likewise so that this ugly thing (the >alleged G) can be eliminated once and for all. Well, no, maybe not... The relation between cursive script and "printed" block-letter stuff is quite simple to spot. Basically, the cursive letters (esp capitals) are reasonable distortions of the block letters. I have a capital S in my last name. If you connect the top (start) of the S with the bottom, you get &, only backwards. Pretty obvious, really, but there was a time where the relations between the letters in cursive & non-cursive form made no sense to me. It took a long time for me to get the cursive capital Q, since it looked for all the world like a funny "2". Anyway, about the only time I use cursive capitals is with my signature. When I was about 14 or so, I had had enough about people hassling me for unreadable handwriting, so I started writing (by no means exclusively) in the block capitals I learned from drafting class. My handwriting today (10 years later) is a highly stylized form of these same "stick-letters". I still stick to the "usual" handwriting for lower-case letters, however, so my writing is a mix between my special hybrid-block capitals and the normal cursive lower case forms. Of course, this leads to: >I always had trouble with words like 'minimum', which came >out something like a highly distorted sine wave, and I had to count cycles >to find out where the dots on the i's went. > >Personally I feel that the 'italic' style of writing is more efficient >than cursive script, since it requires a smaller number of strokes. The >'joining' strokes which are eliminated in this method do not contribute >to legibility, and actually degrade legibility unless they are very well >placed (cf. 'minimum') Well, I doubt that the efficiency argument is true, since you are lifting your pen between letters, but your "italic" is possibly more readable than your cursive. Actually, I read a book on handwriting analysis once, which had all sorts of examples of strange/beautiful scribbling. One thing which I took to heart was that tossing in block capitals instead of cursive ones was an indicator of intelligence (some kind of ego boost, anyway). The point being that these nonstandard forms do make sense, and are quite traditional in the sense that lots of people have done them in the past. >Any comment on this? I feel that children should not be forced to write >using a cursive script; they should be free to use either the cursive >method or the italic method, whichever seems best for them. Well, what's the purpose of teaching? To get the standards set for everyone, I would say. The point of cursive is that you don't have to lift your pen up, and most people can write readably with it. Then again, I use troff a lot, so who cares? >Signatures, however, are best done in a cursive manner with as many >'useless' joining strokes as is practical, since this extra redundant >information makes forging difficult. Another reason why cursive should be taught. >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >Greg Smith University of Toronto UUCP: ..utzoo!utcsri!greg >Have vAX, will hack... -- Chris Shaw cdshaw@alberta University of Alberta CatchPhrase: Bogus as HELL !