The reason behind writing in cursive might shock you. There is more to the story than most people know. So I will tell you...
A long time ago there was a wise philosopher named Curstoff. He was known by many as a man with a knowledge of the world that was so deep there wasn't anything he didn't know. People from all over the world came to him seeking answers for all sorts of questions. He was a humble guy who enjoyed helping others and so he worked with all sorts of people.
When he was about 35 years old he lived in what is now modern day Rome. A terrible king had taken over his country and he ruled over the people in ways much more unjust and harsh than some of the worst dictators in history.
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Curstoff was no longer allowed to read books or do experiments in his workshop. He was taken by the king to be a part of the king's council. This way the king could use him for his knowledge and also so that Curstoff didn't get any smart ideas about leading a revenge or bringing an end to the king's rule over the land.
Curstoff tried to escape a few times but it was just too risky and the king had too good of a watch on him.
Back in this time there were only a few dozen people that could write in the world and they wrote using what would be described now as symbols. It looked similar in a way to Chinese writing today.
One day Curstoff came in contact with another country's master in knowledge and they got a chance to speak in private. The other mans name was Dino. Dino recognized the oppression that the people of the country were facing and he told Curstoff he wanted to help overthrow the king.
Curtsy told Dino he had been hoping for a long time to meet someone like Dino who could potentially help the country. He told Dino he ad developed a new method of writing and with it a new language. Curtsy gave him what is now known as the english language and gave him papers that allowed him to learn how to write in cursive. Curtsy told him that this was his only copy of the language and the associated tutorial sheets and to take care of them at all costs.
Curstoff called his new language cursive and so it was born into the world.
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Curstoff and Dino relayed many messages back in forth to each other in secrecy and were able to organize a way to kill the king. They only had a few messages become intercepted but when they were no one could read them or understand what they meant.
Through cursive they were able to kill the king and restore the country back to a better way of life. Curtsy was the new king and he ruled the people in a just manner. People praised him for his wisdom and soon cursive was beginning to be taught in schools.
It has continued to be one of the longest living languages and method of writing today. However, people have switched over to the new style of print writing, which seems to be effective.
Author's Note.
This story was inspired by the Jamaican Anansi story called Tumble Bug. Tumble bug is another name for a dung beetle. In the original story it explains how the Tumble bug is trying to marry a beautiful girl and to do so he has to bring a jar of money to the king. He has a competitor though who is also trying to find money so that he can marry the girl. His competitor can only find poop and so he puts it in his jar. Then he tricks the tumble bug to go have a drink with him where he switches the jars. In front of the king they are both asked to dump out the contents of their jars and so the poop falls out. The king shouts at the beetle to pick it up and carry the poop away. This is why tumble bugs are always carrying poop somewhere.
I liked how the story found an original story and reason behind something that seems so odd to us humans. I wanted to do the same thing in my story but with a different spin. I have always wondered why we learned cursive and why it is now being phased out so that it what I tried to develop my story around.
I chose the image to show what the cursive lettering looks like for the readers to remember or see for the first time.
Bibliography.
Tumble Bug, Jamaica Anansi Stories, Martha Warren Beckwith, 1924.
Hey Steve! I remember having to learn cursive, and now I barely use it for anything. I think that you did a great job readapting your original story to this format. I thought it was a fun and innovative way to think about where cursive came from. I also thought that the original story looked cute too and I may have to check it out later! Good luck with the rest of your semester!
ReplyDeleteYour story is so interesting! Learning cursive in elementary school was so interesting, and I think it's weird that it's not being taught as much in schools today. I love that you made the story your own and told it in a similar way to the original story. It's was interesting that Curstoff and Dino made it as a way to communicate with each other in order to escape the oppressive kingdom! I really like the creative approach you took to this story, it was very interesting to read!
ReplyDeletePlease read my comments that came to mind while I was reading your story. You should be able to piece together which part of the story I was on when I made the comment!
ReplyDelete(Comments as I read along)
I am already liking how this story is starting out because I feel like I’m actually about to learn something from your story. Please, enlighten me as to why cursive is important and why we were taught it in elementary.
That’s unfortunate that Curstoff could no longer read or do experiments due to the new king.
Hey Dino, glad you could join the party and help Curtsy out with saving this language that would have otherwise died out if left in the control of the king.
Dino and Curtsy worked together to get rid of the king, that’s great!
This would be a great story for teachers to tell their students so that they’ll want to learn it even more.
Very creative story. I think its great how you took the original story and created a story thats pretty different. Even though it is still the creation of something. It was really interesting to read. I wonder how you choose the names in your story. If it was just because Curstoff sounds like cursive? Also I liked the name Dino but am curios where it came form? My favorite part of the story is when they communicated with the new cursive language in their letters.
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