Quick question about the summer homework: What exactly is the definition of "longhand?" I looked back at the summer homework directions and noticed that it was specified we write this way in our notebooks, but the definition is a bit subjective depending on who you ask. When I googled it, the definition was "ordinary handwriting (as opposed to shorthand, typing, or printing)," but other sources said longhand just meant writing in cursive. So what is the "Fletcher definition" of longhand? Cursive? No abbreviations or contractions? All of the above? None of the above? Or does this just mean no typing and pasting anything into our notebooks? Hopefully I'm not the only one wondering this!
Isabelle Goodwin
The "Fletcher" definition of longhand is "the fast, legible way you write with a pen." It could be cursive, it could be printed, or it could be some hybrid of the two.
ReplyDeleteHere's what it must be: dark and clear. Black or blue ink only. No pencil, no crazy colors. Red is an absolute deal breaker -- I will not read it. Ditto fluorscent inks.
You have to think PROFESSIONALLY -- and you have to think of all of the old people (like me) reading your AP exams next May. If you write small, try to write bigger. If your handwriting is a sloppy mess, practice and try to do better. If you write big, loopy letters and dot your "i's" with hearts or round balls, STOP that right now. Work on the way you write "longhand." Try to get fast, and make it neat.
Another thing that is going to upset some of you: DO NOT WHITE-OUT your inevitable errors. It's a waste of time, and you are not allowed to use White-Out on the AP exam. I know some of you like your pages to look perfect, like a beautiful script on a page. Do that kind of thing elsewhere -- maybe get yourself a bullet journal. But this is a notebook -- it's supposed to be raw. Let it be AS IT IS. When you make an error, just draw a simple line through it, and move on!
If you get freaked out by that, look up Picasso's notebooks, or Hemingway's notebooks, or any writer or artist's notebook. A notebook is a place to think -- not a place to try for perfection.
Perfection is the voice of the oppressor.
DeleteAwesome! Thank you so much!
DeleteI'm glad. My cursive speed writing and legibility is pretty bad. Thankfully I was never required to write in it.
ReplyDeleteBut...now you are. :) You can do it. I've seen some crazy script over the years, and the worst handwriting I ever worked with belonged to a guy who just graduated from Stanford. So in the larger scheme of things, bad handwriting is insignificant. If the handwriting is perfect but the ideas are boring or poorly articulated, who cares? I'd rather battle my way through terrible handwriting to find exciting ideas that are clear and crisply explained.
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