Page:Theory and Practice of Handwriting.djvu/87

Rh contrast will hardly ever look at the Copy at all, and its progress will necessarily be a minimum.

A very irritating accompaniment to the scheme is the perpetual movement of the heads (too often of the bodies also) of the writers as they look up at their distant copy. The temptation to look at one another is alas often too strong to be always successfully resisted, and instead of a quiet and uniform attention to their Copy Books, as is the case with engraved Headlines, there is a continual motion of heads going on all over the Class causing shakings of the desk and grumblings from the writers, who are disturbed thereby. Disorder is both produced and encouraged by the practice of Blank Book writing.

Lastly the influence of blank Copy Books upon a class is very disheartening. Nothing to relieve the monotony of the outlook, or inlook either for that matter. No fresh or higher number of Headline Copy Book to anticipate, with its interesting collection of instructive sentences, its elegant capitals, and its modified style to stimulate the pupils! What a valuable element of emulative Education is thus lost entirely.

Summarising these the Blank Book System we observe that

1. It presents for imitation.

2. It possesses nothing but which preclude any consistent system of Penmanship.

3. It can only produce so that the essential element of General Gradation is both ignored and neglected.

4. It also offers, thus rendering all true Correction uncertain or impossible–often the latter.

5. It can only give which in the majority of instances are both inappropriate and non-educative.

6. It entirely lacks all so essential to real and rapid progress.

7. It fails to provide for short-sighted pupils.

8. It involves much loss of time to and imposes much unnecessary work upon the Teacher.