It is believed that back in the 600s, the Romans first used a form of writing mainly to communicate and to keep stock of items of trade. This form of writing clearly showed the cursive style flowing into one another. Emperor Charlemagne, the ruler at the time, appreciated this form of neat, balanced script over its French and Lombardic counterparts. Additionally, the quill, an important writing instrument of the olden times, was too fragile a tool to keep lifting off the paper and touching it back again. Therefore, it worked best with a style requiring minimal lifting of the quill off the page. Because of this, the period saw a rise in cursive writing.
After the Roman Empire fell, in order to preserve its history, monks throughout the Christian world transcribed all the Christian texts, but there were minor differences in the cursive writing styles owing to the different regions from which the monks came.
Although Emperor Charlemagne wanted one standard script in all the regions, it was not until six years after his death in 820 CE that this style of cursive was fine-tuned under the leadership of Alcuin of York (England), the monks at Aachen (Germany), and at the Abbey of St. Martin at the end of the 8th century and became a standardized, predominant script. Called Carolingian Miniscule, it has the following characteristics:
- Highly functional
- Easy to read
- Separated words
- Inclusion of lower-case letters
- Contained punctuation
With the inclusion of punctuation, this time period marks the introduction to the formal study of grammar and mechanics.
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As the price of paper rose, people tried to fill in more words in the same space and that took on a more crowded, stuffy look, called Gothic, that was not very popular. Therefore, another type of beautiful cursive evolved, called Italic. At that time in history, it was assumed that if you had beautiful handwriting, you were probably affluent in society. Expensive paper and private tutelages from expert scribes to their disciples made cursive writing an exclusive and privileged skill. In fact, the signature made in the italic style was a measure of affluence, aristocracy, and a higher social status.
In the 1800s, an American bookkeeper by the name of Platt Rogers Spencer regularized a method of cursive writing, a script known as the Spencerian Method. This style of writing was taught in schools using a textbook and adopted by businesses.
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The following are the various types of cursive:
Ligature
Ligature is a type of cursive writing that connects the letters using lines. The main objective of the ligature cursive style is not to lift the writing instrument while writing.
Looped Cursive
As the name suggests, this type of cursive depends heavily on looping the letters. The loop of one terminating letter loops into another letter and continues henceforth.
Cursive Italic
Thanks to the 15th century Italian Renaissance, this style of cursive became popular. It is derived from chancery cursive or the Italic hand. The letters denote a clear slant on the right with looped and non-looped letters.
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The following are some cursive handwriting styles:
Zaner-Bloser
In 1891, Charles Zaner and Elmer Bloser came up with the Zaner-Bloser method. This method was taught for decades in educational institutions and was used in businesses. This was a go-to method for book publishers of those times. The Zaner-Bloser printing style (straight up and down) was quite different from the Zaner-Bloser cursive style that was slanted. Even today, many schools start teaching cursive to their students using this method.
D'Nealian
In 1978, the D'Nealian style broke down its ancestor, the Palmer Method , and made it easier to teach cursive handwriting to students. D'Nealian, also called the Modern Manuscript, with its slanting letters has a lot of similarities between the print and cursive styles. It made the transition from the D'Nealian printing to D'Nealian cursive a smoother experience. Because of this, it is still a popular choice in today's schools across America.
New American Cursive
The New American Cursive is often considered an easy method to teach to kids as it has simple, clean strokes. It is written slightly slanting to the right and with joined, connected letters.
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The following are a few cursive writing examples:
- Palmer Method: Named after its developer and promoter Austin Palmer, this method was once the most popular cursive style in the America of 1890s. It is said to be the simplified version of the Spencerian method. The supporters of the Palmer Method hailed it for its simplicity and speed and also noted that it was less labor-intensive than the original Spencerian method. It eventually faded out of popularity in the 1950s.
- The Copperplate cursive: More and more people used handwriting and penmanship to indicate their affluence and social status at the beginning of the 1700s. This led to the birth of Copperplate cursive handwriting. People started to look for scribes and private tutors who could teach their children this style of cursive. Learning the cursive style under the formal tutelage of an expert scribe was considered a worthy goal amongst all the classes. The Declaration of Independence of the United States, first drafted by Thomas Jefferson, used this style, which made the document elegant, modern, and, importantly, legible.
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Cursive writing is a style of writing that shows the handwriting in a rather flowy style. The letters are joined together, which lends speed and flow to the writing. The earliest forms of cursive writing were developed to increase speed when transcribing. It is believed that back in the 600s, the Romans first used a form of writing style, mainly to communicate and to keep stock of trade items, that clearly shows letters flowing into one another.
Six years after Emperor Charlemagne's death in 820 A.D., the Carolingian Miniscule script became a standardized, predominant script under the leadership of Alcuin of York, England. The rising price of the paper was instrumental in helping another form of beautiful, elegant cursive evolve called the Italic. The Spencerian method took birth in the 1800s and was used by businesses and schools alike.
While the Zaner-Bloser style is an early style of cursive used predominantly until the 1970s and denoted different styles for printing and writing, the D'Nealian writing style is a style that allows for easy transition between printing and cursive and looks somewhat similar. The Palmer Method, once the most popular cursive style of 1890s America, is said to be the simplified version of the Spencerian method. The Declaration of Independence of the United States used the Copperplate cursive method. In early America, writing styles signified affluence and a higher social status. Comfort with using a certain method should be used as a deciding factor while teaching a method of cursive writing.
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Video Transcript
Cursive Writing Defined
Most people assume cursive writing is a form we only use here in the United States, but really, it is used internationally as well. Handwriting, or penmanship, is a way of writing using the hand and an instrument. Cursive writing is a form of penmanship that uses a flowing style to make writing faster. Cursive writing is always looped and connected.
Much like our own handwriting history, we didn't start off writing in cursive. So how did we get here? Evolution!
Origins of Cursive Writing
While the history of recorded writing goes back thousands of years, we'll focus solely on how cursive writing came about. Historians believe the Romans were one of the first to use written forms for corresponding and recording transactions., such as sales or stock. In the 600s, writing consisted mostly of upper case letters with some lower case letters mixed in, and it showed the telltale flow and curve of cursive.
Following the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of monasteries, where monks dedicated their lives to transcribing Christian texts, we see a rise in the use of cursive writing, though styles varied depending on geographical region. In the late 8th century, an English monk standardized cursive using script from classic Roman characters. This style of writing was named Carolingian Miniscule and was meant to be functional: legible, lower case letters, words separated, and punctuation. Grammar was born!
Later in the Middle Ages, the price of paper rose, which resulted in folks trying to get more words on a page. This denser style of writing had a more Gothic look, which was not popular. As a result, a more elegant type of cursive called italic evolved. At that time, beautiful handwriting was equated with wealth and status so that by the 1700s, penmanship was being taught formally as a craft by master scribes.
Cursive in the Colonies
In the early days of the United States, scribing continued to be a profession. The colonials transcribed official documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and other lesser known legal documents and books. Lay people learned a style of cursive equal to their stature; handwriting became a way to mark one's profession or social status. A bookkeeper named Platt Rogers Spencer created a more uniform system, known as the Spencerian Method. This method was taught using a textbook and used predominately by schools and businesses. The original Coca-Cola logo is written in this style!
In the late 1800s, a new style, the Zaner-Bloser method, was developed by Charles Zaner and Elmer Bloser. It dominated the classroom for decades. In the 1970s, the D'Nealian method emerged. designed to make the transition from printing to cursive more smooth, this style is a popular choice in many of today's schools.
Cursive in the Classroom
Chances are, if you attended school in America you learned either the Zaner-Bloser or D'Nealian method of cursive. Both use a printing and cursive style, but there are two main differences: slant and shape. D'Nealian printing is written at a slant. Zaner-Bloser printing is written straight up and down.
The Zaner-Bloser style is straight up-and-down in printing but uses a slant in cursive. The D'Nealian style is written at a slight slant in both printing and cursive to make the transition from printing to cursive easier for young students. When teaching printing using D'Nealian, the focus is on writing letters with tails. To transition to cursive, instruction focuses on connecting the tails. In contrast, the Zaner-Bloser method teaches letter writing as two completely different styles in printing and cursive.
Because there are two distinctively different styles, teachers and parents often want to know which one is best for children. The answer is that it depends on the child. Some students find the straight up-and-down method used in the Zaner-Bloser style easier to understand and do not struggle when they have to adopt a new, more slanted cursive style. Some children may find that learning one style and then having to learn a whole new style is not only difficult in itself but also a challenge when reading. Keep a few things in mind as you consider which style is best:
- First, the printed word in books and texts is a Zaner-Bloser style. Children may struggle with switching between printing in D'Nealian and reading Zaner-Bloser.
- When transitioning between printing and cursive, the D'Nealian method stays mostly the same - though half of the letters change shape slightly - except for connecting the letters.
- The style that works best for you may be the one to teach. Remember, you'll be the one demonstrating the strokes. If you learned Zaner-Bloser as a child, you may not be comfortable teaching D'Nealian.
The transition from printing to cursive is an exciting time in a child's life, often looked at as a step towards being more grown up. No matter which style is chosen, learning to write in cursive is a fun, memorable time for most children.
However, recent trends towards technology and increased time on specific content areas, like reading and math, have meant a decline in the instruction and use of cursive in the classroom. In response, National Handwriting Day is celebrated every January 23. This day, which is also John Hanco*ck's birthday, is meant to celebrate cursive writing and show its significance in our lives. John Hanco*ck was the man behind the famous signature from the Declaration of Independence.
Lesson Summary
Cursive writing has been around for centuries. What began as a method of making transcription faster evolved into a status symbol and eventually became a staple in educating young children.
Two main styles exist today: the straight printing and slanted cursive, more traditional Zaner-Bloser style and the newer, loopy, and easier to transition to D'Nealian style. Both styles are currently used in schools across the country. Sadly, however, due to the predominant use of computers as well as the decreased amount of class time dedicated to handwriting instruction, many children are no longer formally taught either style. In response, National Handwriting Day is celebrated every January 23 on John Hanco*ck's birthday.
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