On Writing

      More Letters From Paradise
            On Writing
      I have long been interested in writing.  The scratches made by prehistoric men, the cuneiform marks on the clay tablets of ancient Mesopotamia, and the early Minoan script of Ancient Greece. I find it interesting that early written Greek is without any periods. This has led to some differing translations of scripture. Missing periods can cause other problems as well.  I admire the flowing Arabic script, but know nothing about it. Then there are the Chinese with their character  symbols which require a person to memorize at least six thousand in order to read a newspaper. The Japanese adopted the same system. The Koreans did not. I understand that they have an alphabet. That's about all I know. Then let's not forget the ancient Egyptians with their picture script.  Imagine writing a letter with it.  It was translated by a Frenchman named Champollion. The angry faces of the Mayans, and Aztecs too, should not be forgotten. And Sandscript.  It boggles the mind.  So many forms of writing.  I greatly admire the penmanship of our "Founding Fathers."  Imagine sharpening a goose quill, dipping it into ink made from iron filings. I feel a kinship with their struggles.
      Way back in olden times when I was a boy, we used long wood pens with steel points. They were dipped into ink wells, usually. The paper was thick, with ruled lines. Over the chalk board were cursive letters to copy. Not so easy if you were left-handed.  Most of you (the majority of the population) are right handed. When you write the ink flows behind you.  Not so with lefties. Notice how left-handed people most often bend their wrist,  looking like some one who has had a stroke. This is done to avoid getting ink on the under side of their hand. Not only was the ink a problem, but often the steel pen just tore into the paper. Not much fun. The funny thing is that I can't recall ever having had a left-handed teacher.  Hence, my writing is pretty poor.
      I heard lately that cursive is no longer taught in schools. A guy I once knew named Don Thurber, invented a system which made the transition from printing to cursive very easy. He called it "D'Nealian."  Some of you teachers may even have used it.
      A fellow I met here in our condo is a teacher in one of the public schools.  He informed me that student papers are all printed.  He tries to tell them that on timed tests, more time is used to print than writing in cursive.
      And speaking about writing on tests. I recall that at U of M, when it came time for a test, you would buy a blank "blue book." Two or three questions were put on the board. Your job was to fill the blanks pages of your book. I remember that one time a girl seated near me was not writing in her book, she was drawing flowers all over the pages. Was she not prepared, or simply "high?"   We may never know.
                Aloha
                Grant