Reforming with Zigs and Zags

By Wolf Von Eckardt

Calligraphy may be the cure for sloppy handwriting

Now that calligraphy, the art of formal handwriting, has become a popular hobby, enthusiasts are sharpening their pens to improve the atrocious scrawling of the rest of us. It will be a mighty task. In America, writing is the most neglected of the three Rs.

The basic problem is that the letter forms taught were not designed to accomplish the necessary combination of legibility, speed and ease. At the start, schools require five-and six-year-olds to construct an alphabet out of circles and straight lines. Calligraphers say that it is wrong to expect the resulting letters to resemble the modern sans-serif type faces that the children are simultaneously learning to read. Young hands can rarely produce the subtle but important nuances of printed type. The so-called ball-and-stick method requires exceptional motor coordination, and the effort spoils the handwriting of many youngsters for life.

Since drawing circles and lines is not really "writing," third-graders must be taught writing all over again. Schools switch to one of several cursive systems based on the fanciful scripts taught elementary the U.S. in the 18th and writing. centuries, in-the Spencerian style vigorously promoted in the mid-1800s by Platt Rogers Spencer, a scribe and teacher. All these cursive systems, of which the most familiar is probably the variation devised by another teacher, Austin Palmer, are full of accident-prone loops that only a 19th century copper engraver could properly master. Teachers get as discouraged as students.

The solution, calligraphers say, is a simplified version of italic, one of the predominant handwriting styles of the Italian Renaissance. It was developed by Ludovico degli Arrighi, a Vatican chancery scribe, who in 1522 composed the first writing manual for popular use, La Operina. Like much Western writing since antiquity, this simplified italic is written with a broad-edged pen, yielding a pleasing alternation of thick and thin lines, depending on the angle of the stroke. It is also easy to write because it follows the natural movement of the wrist. The writer need only obey the pen to create an even rhythm and beautiful form.

"We don't want to force fancy calligraphy on young children," says Nan Jay Barchowsky, 53, a Maryland writing teacher who is coordinating a drive for handwriting reform, with the aid of 47 calligraphic associations in 26 states. "We want to teach children an efficient hand, one that is legible, fast and easy to write. For some scribes, that isn't calligraphic enough. But most of us believe there is beauty in simplicity."

Among the first to advocate a modern italic as the basis for handwriting reform was the English calligrapher Alfred Fairbank. His series of books, written with Charlotte M. Store and published in 1957, starts children off with simple zigzag lines to harness their natural sense of rhythm. As children draw faster, they will round off the zigs and zags either on top or bottom. Then they are taught to turn rows of circles into slightly slanted ovals. If they alternate these ovals with equally slanted lines, they have all the basic components of lower-case italic letters (and,incidentally, of architectural ornament through the ages). When youngsters master individual letters, they are taught to join them, although not all letters can be legibly connected. The capital letters are plain Roman capitals with a little swash here and there to celebrate the joy of writing.

Modern italic can be written with any instrument from a simple crayon to a 24-karat gold fountain pen (if it will write). But it looks best when written with a broad-edged pen. If the nib is crisp and the ink flow and paper are just right, italic writing gives its practitioners an almost sensuous pleasure.

America's leading calligraphers have urged that their countrymen instruct children in this writing technique. Many italic handwriting manuals are now available. One that is especially designed for use in elementary schools is the Italic Handwriting Series of textbooks by Barbara M. Getty and Inga S. Dubay of Portland, Ore., both teachers as well as enthusiastic calligraphers. Published by Portland State University, the eight-book series was adopted last month by the Portland school board as the official text for handwriting instruction from kindergarten through eighth grade. State education officials have approved the discretionary use of the Getty/ Dubay books for all Oregon public schools.

If Oregon children are taught to write decently, interested parents in other states may demand the same for their youngsters. Educators and textbook publishers would be likely to listen. An improved hand would be a boon to American culture. The Getty/Dubay instruction books show that the teaching of proper handwriting evokes children's innate sense of visual order and beauty. It gives children an eye for good design. As Getty and Dubay put it in their foreword in one book in the series: "The various adaptations of italic handwriting are infinite. As handwriting reflects one's personality, we recommend and encourage a personal style in this lifelong skill." In other words, good handwriting offers not only clear communication with others but also the opportunity for artistic self-expression. --By Wolf Von Eckardt This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.