Hollamby 1

Ethan Hollamby
Mrs. Cramer
College Comp. I pd.3
3 November 2017
Cursive: Necessary or Not?

Despite not being mandated by the curriculum laid out by the Common Core State

Standards, fourteen states have decided to mandate that cursive be taught to all students

attending school within their borders, and for good reason. Some argue that cursive isn't

necessary for modern students to function in a world that is becoming ever more technology

based, and advocate the exclusion of cursive from modern curriculum. Proponents of cursive

argue that it's an art form that promotes individuality in an increasingly monotonous world, that

learning script is a practical and useful skill for note taking or everyday use, and finally that

cursive allows us to appreciate our founding papers to a greater degree and provides a connection

to our heritage as Americans in ways unique unto itself.

Cursive, undoubtedly an art form in itself, can become an outlet of expression and

individuality for some students, therefore boosting self-esteem in many ways similar to art and

music (Kauffman). Some proponents even argue that learning cursive helps boost the creativity

of the students being taught it, helping them express themselves through their writing, as they

focus less on forming each letter and more on the composition of the manuscript they are

working on (Kauffman). A prominent argument opposing the inclusion of cursive in curriculum

is that it is not needed in a world increasingly shifting to typed documents both in the work place

and a home. However, typed font lacks the individuality inherent in handwriting (Kauffman) and

if schools chose to completely drop cursive, as many have already done, "then it will be the loss

of yet one more outlet through which students are able to say 'this is my mark. This is
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me.'"(Kauffman). In addition to being an art form, cursive can convey a world of emotion that

typed print could never come close to replicating. The flowing, elegant strokes of those who are

content or relaxed can convey hidden emotion that print cannot. Conversely, short, quick strokes

written in haste could help convey anger or anxiety. Cursive is undoubtedly a tool that is unique

in its ability to perform this function (Kauffman).

Cursive has proven itself to be a necessary and practical skill in many facets. Cursive is

generally faster than manuscript once students become comfortable using it, allowing them to

more effectively take notes, and therefore benefit more from their work. In situations that require

students to be able to put their thoughts on paper quickly, this can be a real asset. Many

standardized tests, the SAT or any of the AP exams for example, require students to construct a

response to a prompt while placed under a time constraint. Data has proven that students who

compose their essays in cursive instead of manuscript generally attain higher scores on their

exams than students who don't (Kauffman). The faster nature of the writing style allows them to

construct their response to a given prompt more quickly, and therefore allows them more time to

think about what they are writing as opposed to actually getting it onto the paper. (Kauffman).

Those who oppose the inclusion of cursive in curriculum argue that typing takes this same

principle one step further, allowing students even more time to contemplate their response

instead of writing it. In some cases, this may be true, but in situations where typing is not an

option, or in situations where students are required to retain knowledge, this may not be such a

good thing. For example, when taking notes, a slower pace is generally more beneficial to the

reader as it allows new information a little more time to sink in. If that's an issue, then why not

write in manuscript and slow the process down even more. Remember, cursive allows the writer
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to think less about grinding out each individual letter, and more about content. In a way, cursive

is the perfect compromise.

In addition to all of this, cursive is still required in multiple facets of society. On almost

all legal documents, a signature is required by at least one person (Pettyjohn). This signature, in

cursive, is impossible to obtain from those who have never written in cursive before or do not

understand it (King). It defeats the purpose of a signature, because it should at least be somewhat

consistent from one document to another in order to function as the security measure it is and to

avoid forgery. If more than a few people signed their name multiple different ways across

multiple documents, it would be nearly impossible to identify anyone's real signature. High

school age children across the nation are effectively beginning to regard cursive as a foreign

language because they had never been taught it. How will they, when the time comes, be able to

sign their name in a consistent manner legibly on important legal documents when they buy a

house, take out a mortgage, vote, etc. (King)?

Finally, cursive should be taught because it is an important aspect of our heritage as

Americans. All of our founding and legal documents up to the Civil War era were composed in

cursive (Emord). Children and teens in the modern world are finding that they cannot decipher

them for themselves, and appreciate the penmanship that went into creating these cultural

treasures. As an example, the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights

are all written in cursive, and therefore illegible to those young people that have been cheated out

of an education in script (Emord). The dilemma does not stop at legal documents. Family

heirlooms such as the journal of a deceased relative or other significant person written in cursive

will be rendered illegible to those of future generations who were schooled after cursive was no

longer taught in schools. Even less common documents like the immigration papers of family
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members or deeds from land that has been held by a family for generations will be rendered

illegible to future generations. This would be a tragic end to meaningful and important

connections to history for many people.

Overall, cursive is not only necessary, but essential for many more reasons than not.

School districts across America are choosing to mandate cursive in their curriculum, and for

good reason. Useful as a form of expression, being a practicality, and serving as a connection to

our cultural heritage as Americans, it certainly has a place in the modern classroom. Only time

will tell if schools across America choose to perpetuate this necessary and practical skill.
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Works Cited

Emord, Johnathan W. "Why the left curses cursive." USA Today, Sept. 2017, p. 40+. Research in

Context, gogalegroup.com/ps/i.do? 3 Nov. 2017.

Kauffman, Gretel. "A comeback for cursive? More states encouraging penmanship in school."

Christian Science Monitor, 6 Mar. 2017. Research in Context, go to

galegroup.com/ps/i.do? 24 Oct. 2017.

King, Brett. “Why Kids Don't Have Signatures, and Banks Shouldn't Either.” The Huffington

Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 May 2014.

Pettyjohn, Peyton, and George Alecci. " Should students learn cursive writing?" Scholastic

News/Weekly Reader Edition 5/6, 7 Sept. 2015, p.7. Research in Context,

gogalegroup.com/ps/i.do? 24 Oct. 2017.