Pens and Ink as Instruments of Discipline
Private Life and Play — By Adele on 14 November, 2006 9:35 pmA school in Edinburgh has introduced fountain pens to help the pupils develop neat handwriting.
For anybody tempted to copy the good headmaster’s methods, I have an even better idea: why not go way back to dip pens? Have you ever tried writing lines with a dip pen? I have. I don’t know what it does to your handwriting, but it does teach you a lesson.
P.S. I have a tie from that school! It’s my favouritest tie ever.
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8 Comments
I actually used these in real life – The middle school I attended during the Seventies had some really old fashioned teachers. Some lessons you could only use a fountain pen, but the teacher who we had for History and Geography used to make us use the dip pens. There were also appointed “Ink Monitors” who were charged with the responsibility of ensuring everyone’s Ink Wells were topped up. Those were great times, although we didn’t think so at the time. I’m glad I experienced that world before it disappeared.
Also, if you go to a Waldorf School, you do caligraphy – it’s actually good for you. It’s hard for me to think of it as an instrument of discipline.
Oh my goodness… I took calligraphy in college, and it was so hard for me. I’m a lefty, and not only are the pens angled for righties, but I drag my hand across everything and smear it. I used to have to write rows of letters over and over and over, and then the teacher would maybe circle ONE of them and say,
“That one’s good.” !! I guess that could have been considered an exercise in discipline — the spankings will continue until the letters are perfect. — Erica
Well, honestly, Erica, I have not tried it myself very much but my husband and a lot of other people I know did. I don’t think he was perfect at it (and the school he went to was not pushing for perfection), but it helped him to write out our wedding invitations in a very elegant handwriting, although it was not calligraphy per se. My only experience was in college, in the Medieval English class, and the professor was not pushing for perfection either, it was just to get the taste.
Yeah, it sounds like your professors had the right idea — it’s supposed to be artistic and fun, not perfect. How cool that your hubby wrote out your wedding invitations! :-)
Yes, and what’s funny, we wrote it out in two languages, with me writing a page in Russian (a lot of Russian-speaking people were coming) and him writing in English, but mine was not nearly as nice.
I love calligraphy; it’s the most soothing pastime ever (not that I’m particularly good at it, as it would also require patience).
But I’d never thought about issues for lefties in this regard. Erica, maybe you should try calligraphy in Hebrew? ;)
Oyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…. :-)