Here is an excerpt from the New York Times article “Let It Die. It’s Already Dead ” by Morgan Polikoff.
[Teachers should focus] on the skills and knowledge that will impact student success in the future. These include printing and typing, but not cursive. As we have done with the abacus and the slide rule, it is time to retire the teaching of cursive. The writing is on the wall.
What is Polikoff’s perspective on the cursive issue in this excerpt? (Which aspect of the issue seems to be most important to him?)
a. Short-term benefits (benefits for students in high school)
b. Long-term benefits (benefits for students after high school)
c. Aesthetic and cultural benefits (benefits based on beauty or historical convention)
a. He is for it. Cursive will have long-term benefits.
b. He is against it. Cursive will not have long-term benefits.
Here is an excerpt from a different article in the New York Times, “Cursive Benefits Go Beyond Writing” by Suzanne Baruch Asherson.
[T]he physical act of writing in cursive leads to increased comprehension and participation. Interestingly, a few years ago, the College Board found that students who wrote in cursive for the essay portion of the SAT scored slightly higher than those who printed, which experts believe is because the speed and efficiency of writing in cursive allowed the students to focus on the content of their essays.
What is Asherson’s perspective on the cursive issue in this excerpt? (Which aspect of the issue seems to be most important to her?)
a. Short-term benefits (benefits for students in high school)
b. Long-term benefits (benefits for students after high school)
c. Aesthetic and cultural benefits (benefits based on beauty or historical convention)
a. She is for it. Cursive will have long-term benefits.
b. She is against it. Cursive will not have long-term benefits.
This excerpt is from the New York Times article “A Cultural Tradition Worth Preserving” by Jimmy Bryant.
We need to teach cursive to school children to preserve this history. E-mail messages are routinely deleted and not saved for posterity. Letters written in cursive tend to be saved and cherished. And let’s be honest, receiving a letter written in cursive is much more meaningful than one that is computer-generated.
What is Bryant’s perspective on the cursive issue in this excerpt? Which aspect of the issue seems to be most important to him?
a. Short-term benefits (benefits for students in high school)
b. Long-term benefits (benefits for students after high school)
c. Aesthetic and cultural benefits (benefits based on beauty or historical convention)
a. He is for it. Cursive will have long-term benefits.
b. He is against it. Cursive will not have long-term benefits.
All complete. Great job!
