By Robert Klose

I am a volunteer mentor2 in our local middle school. Recently， while working with my excellent young man， I wrote him a note regarding an assignment he needed to work on.3 “Here，” I said， “keep this with you so you dont forget.”

He took the slip4 of paper and stared at it for a moment before commenting， “I cant read this.”

I wasnt sure what he meant. I retrieved5 the note and examined it. It was my best Palmer penmanship， with delicately curved letters listing gently to the right.6 And then the boy interjected7， “I cant read cursive.”

Its true， then. The news about schools no longer teaching handwriting. The idea， as I understand it， is that students use keyboards now， so where exactly does cursive fit in？ At the risk of sounding like a creature on the verge of extinction， or worse， a nostalgist，8 let me count the ways.

First， there continues to be a need to sign “hard copies” of documents.9 There is a sense of ceremony and a seriousness of purpose about the act of signing something. It calls to mind the signers of The Declaration of Independence10. Just look at those signatures！ John Hancocks was so robust， original， and elaborate that， more than 200 years later， it still serves as the unmistakable logo of a namesake insurance company.11 And why not？ It is a work of art.

Second， a great part of the history of the United States is recorded in handwritten documents， including personal letters. There is nothing like seeing， and， if opportunity permits， touching， actual source material rendered by pen ink on paper.12 If one has not been taught to write in cursive， it is unlikely that one will be able to read it.

Third， handwriting is often a manifestation13 of ones personality. I had a favorite fifth-grade teacher （back in the Paleolithic Era） whose handwriting was nothing short of regal—prim，14 proper， and lovely， as was she. Similarly， another teachers script was crabbed and jagged， perhaps a reflection of her prickly nature vis-à-vis her young， and sometimes unruly， charges.15

Fourth， and perhaps most important， when one is trying to learn something， somewhere in the process there must be a slow step. Writing “l(fā)onghand” is a means of slowing down enough to be able to think deeply about what one is penning.16

The campaign to do away with cursive has been precipitous， with supporters almost giddy about the prospect.17 I have tried， to the extent that I can， to offer respectful opposition， but all my arguments seem to fall on deaf ears18. One teacher offered that if there were really a need to jot something down， then one could just print it in block letters.19

I suppose. But then I ask myself： Has anything significant—with the exception of ransom notes20 —ever been printed by hand？ Nothing comes to mind.

Perhaps the strongest argument for the retention21 of cursive is that it is， or at least can be， beautiful. If you have forgotten this， take a look at Magna Carta， the US Constitution， and the Bill of Rights.22 Text typed on a computer is not beautiful because it is not distinctive—my Helvetica font is the same as yours or anybody elses.23

In times of budgetary trial， schools often jettison music and art instruction （but retain sacrosanct football）.24 If cursive joins those refugees from the curriculum， then it will be the loss of yet one more outlet through which students are able to say，25 “This is my mark. This is me.”

In fifth grade， laboring under the graphologic lash of Mrs. Shaw， who made us do handwriting drills—endless series of loops and ups-and-downs， followed by the penning of a stock phrase such as “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”—I once handed her my finished work.26 She looked at it， caught her breath， and said， “Oh， my. I think youre going to be a writer someday.”

Thank you， Mrs. Shaw， for seeing so much in my handwriting. I needed that nudge27.

1. cursive writing： 手寫體，草書。

2. mentor： 導(dǎo)師，顧問。

3. regarding： 關(guān)于；assignment： 作業(yè)，任務(wù)。

4. slip： 片，紙片。

5. retrieve： 取回，索回。

6. Palmer： 一種西文字體； penmanship： 書法，筆跡；delicately： 精致地，優(yōu)美地；curved： 彎曲的；list： 傾斜；gently： 輕輕地。

7. interject： 突然插話。

8. on the verge of： 瀕臨于；extinction： 滅絕，消亡；nostalgist： 懷舊的人。

9. 首先，仍有給紙質(zhì)文件簽上“手寫簽名”的需要。hard copy： 復(fù)印件，此處指紙質(zhì)文件。

10. The Declaration of Independence：《獨(dú)立宣言》（1776年7月4日由美國各州代表簽署，宣告美國獨(dú)立）。

11. 約翰·漢考克的簽名如此遒勁有力、獨(dú)樹一幟、別具匠心，即便在兩百多年后的今天，它仍被用作為一家同名保險(xiǎn)公司的明顯標(biāo)識。John Hancock： 約翰·漢考克（1737—1793），美國獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭時(shí)期政治家，第一個(gè)在《獨(dú)立宣言》上簽名，因筆跡遒勁而著名；robust： 強(qiáng)勁的；elaborate： 精心制作的；unmistakable： 明顯的；namesake： 同名物；insurance： 保險(xiǎn)。

12. there is nothing like： 什么也比不上； render： 給予，提供。

13. manifestation： 表現(xiàn)，顯示。

14. Paleolithic Era： 舊石器時(shí)代；nothing short of： 簡直是，無異于；regal： 帝王的，王室的；prim： 整潔的。

15. 同樣地，另外一名老師字跡潦草、參差不齊，這或許能反映出她易怒的性格，尤其對那些偶爾難管教的年輕學(xué)生。crabbed： 潦草的；jagged： 鋸齒狀的，參差不齊的；prickly： 易怒的；vis-à-vis： 對于，關(guān)于；unruly： 不守規(guī)矩的，難駕馭的；charge： 受照料者。

16. longhand： 普通書寫；pen： v. 寫。

17. campaign： 運(yùn)動；do away with： 廢除； precipitous： 草率的，倉促的；giddy： 開心的，激動的；prospect： 前景。

18. fall on deaf ears： 未被理睬。

19. jot down： 草草記下；block letter： 印刷體字母。

20. ransom note： 勒索信。

21. retention： 保留。

22. Magna Carta： 《英國大憲章》；the US Constitution： 《美國憲法》；the Bill of Rights： 《權(quán)利法案》。

23. distinctive： 與眾不同的；Helvetica font： Helvetica字體，是一種被廣泛使用的西文字體。

24. budgetary： 預(yù)算的；trial： 困難；jettison： 拋棄； retain： 保留；sacrosanct： 神圣的，不可侵犯的。

25. refugee： 難民；curriculum： 課程；outlet： 發(fā)泄方式。

26. 五年級時(shí)，肖夫人要求我們練字——沒完沒了地練習(xí)“圓圓圈圈”和“起起伏伏”的字母，抄寫那些老套的短語，如“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”。在她的不斷鞭策下，有一次我把寫好的作業(yè)交了上去。labor under： 苦于；graphologic： 筆跡學(xué)的，字體學(xué)的；lash： 鞭打；drill： 操練；loop： 圈，環(huán)；stock： adj. 常見的，老一套的。

27. nudge： 推動，督促。