penpersonship
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: By analogy with penmanship and penwomanship, penperson + -ship.
Senses: examples: text: The 8- and 9-year-olds answered assignments to define women’s liberation in Mission View and Lewis and Clark grade schools recently. In sometimes painful penpersonship, they scrawled their answers.
ref: 1977 February 16, “Let women drive diesels, children say”, in The Daily Universe, volume 30, number 106, Provo, Utah, page 8:
text: A year later, after spending a week in sixth grade at Alcott, Soil observed: Changes occurred which cannot be calculated by tabulating new test scores or by observing neater penpersonship. It takes more time than that to notice the subtle and remarkable ways in which a child’s mind grows and begins to reach out for a larger chunk of the world.
ref: 1979, Donald N. Morris, “Elementary School Programs”, in Schooling for a Global Age, McGraw-Hill Book Company, →ISBN, page 133:
text: In Unity under your direction has added one more atrocity to its list of many. The worst to date had been the article of absurdity called “The Trek” by the penpersonship of a Shelley Hamilton. Now the editor deems it necessary to ostracize a whole congregation in an editorial. You see it was a decision of our congregation to return the pieces of paper called In Unity. […] William Coulter / Chairperson / Christian Education / MCCR - Houston
ref: 1980 November/December, William Coulter, “Feedback”, in In Unity, Los Angeles, Calif.: the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches:
text: The Olympics will consist of teams of the “average American family (Mom, Dad, Buddy, and Sis),” with anyone playing whatever role they wish. The events will include duck and cover drills; spare door and shovel carrying; digging a hole, driving a car over it, and getting into the hole; automobile packing contests; possession of the best post-destruction documents; penpersonship of P.O. change of address forms, etc.
ref: 1983 July–August, Ed Hedemann, “Civil Defense Strategy Conference”, in WRL News, number 237, the War Resisters League, →ISSN, page 6, column 3:
text: French composition, his mother tells him, is invaluable, since “one always has to write letters.” Antoine, as if to illustrate her claim, mimics her penpersonship in a note of excuse. He subsequently steals a typewriter so that the principal will not recognize his handwriting.
ref: 1985, Robert Stam, Reflexivity in Film and Literature: From Don Quixote to Jean-Luc Godard, Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, →ISBN, page 19:
text: Writing. Handwriting activities are clearly focused on the improvement of penpersonship. Work might be done from or on the chalkboard, dittoes, worksheets, or with pencil and paper.
ref: 1985 December, Linda A. Meyer, Robert L. Linn, C. Nicholas Hastings, Observation and Coding Manual for the Longitudinal Study of Reading Comprehension and Science Concept Acquisition (Technical Report No. 381), 3rd edition, page 28:
text: Holy Scribbles! Study Your Penpersonship […] Making ministers into penpersons promises to have other favorable long-term effects. The new Church Vocations Unit will need to study the theology of penpersonship. Committees on the Ministry will need to consider copying as a valid call.
ref: 1987 June, Levi Tickus, “Holy Scribbles! Study Your Penpersonship”, in Presbyterian Survey, the Presbyterian Publishing House of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), →ISSN, page 48, column 3:
text: Tracing exercises may be more effective if the stencils are coded to encourage a uniform sequence of motor patterns for each letter (e.g., for the letter b, first trace the vertical bar from top to bottom, then draw the circle). This is both because control develops through repetition and because it enhances the chances that the child will attend to the individual features of the letters and their interrelations. (Note that the basis of this recommendation is orthogonal to any puritanical notions about the hygiene of penpersonship. After the children have thoroughly learned the letters, it is okay if they want to write them in a mirror, with their toes, while standing on their heads.)
ref: 1990, Marilyn Jager Adams, Beginning To Read: Thinking and Learning about Print, Cambridge, Mass.; London: The MIT Press, published 1994, →ISBN, page 364:
text: “The people behind this offensive charge are revolutionaries wishing that once again America would become a nation of letter-writers. It’s either the post office or the revived fountain-pen industry that has launched the attack. Knowing that in a few years those of us who manage to maintain our sanity will rebel against this hideous torture, these humanists are preparing the stage for the return of penpersonship. And when the rebellion comes, I will be at the forefront, Parker and Waterman in hand.”
ref: 1990 January 12, “Answering Back”, in The Boston Phoenix, published 13 January 1995, page 8:
text: Whatever theories emerge about the literature of Canada, it has always been a site for women’s words; and despite continuing apprehensions of this country as tabula rasa (‘a blank slate’), an opportunity for outdoor activity and not penpersonship, there is a long, traceable tradition of women’s writing inscribing the terrain.
ref: 1992, Aritha van Herk, “Canada”, in Claire Buck, editor, Bloomsbury Guide to Women’s Literature, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 142:
text: Who’s Where/What’s Next Publications is seeking Queen’s Students to complete survey / Qualifications: • Queen’s student • Ability to think critically • Possess or believe to have possessed 1993-1994 Who’s Where telephone directory containing a survey in the back • Penpersonship
ref: 1994 March 11, The Queen’s Journal, volume 121, page 17:
text: I can look back over the years of Down Home On The Farm and say that regardless of whether I wrote a column, I would be hammering and painting, enjoying the challenge of gardening and tediously feeding and caring for poultry. Two surprises have come from the regular penpersonship, the discovery of a wealth of wonders in my own backyard that I may well have overlooked, and the confirmation from readers that Grass Roots people share a lot of the same dilemmas, same crises, and similar enjoyment and satisfaction.
ref: 1998 April/May, Megg Miller, “Down Home on the Farm”, in Grass Roots, number 126, Grass Roots Publishing Pty Ltd, page 76, column 3:
text: Before beginning to write, let go of any agendas about the content, and don’t be concerned about penpersonship.
ref: 1999, Valerie Wells, “Hand Switch”, in Naturally Powerful: 200 Simple Actions to Energize Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit, Perigee Books, →ISBN, page 207:
text: An epistolary breakup is a little too Bram Stoker for Breakup Girl’s taste; according to the above rule, it’s appropriate only for dumping a pen pal. But if you must: ❤︎ Handwrite it. In pen (don’t get cute with color). I don’t care how bad your penpersonship is. Handwriting adds a personal touch and allays suspicion that you cut and pasted a breakup.txt file.
ref: 2000, Lynn Harris, Breakup Girl to the Rescue!: A Superhero’s Guide to Love, and Lack Thereof, Back Bay Books, →ISBN, page 16:
text: Make prior decisions regarding treatment of such factors as spelling, penpersonship, and punctuation.
ref: 2000, W. James Popham, Modern Educational Measurement: Practical Guidelines for Educational Leaders, 3rd edition, Allyn and Bacon, →ISBN, page 270:
text: But, for some, penpersonship may remain painful for a long period. This is the time to consider introducing the computer typing program, perhaps for ten minutes a day.
ref: 2003, David H. Albert, Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery: A Journey of Original Seeking, Monroe, Me.: Common Courage Press, →ISBN, page 43:
text: You can write the names on yourself, unless your tween or teen has terrific penpersonship.
ref: 2004, Tara Aronson, Mrs. Clean Jeans’ Housekeeping with Kids: Family Pickup Lines (and Household Routines) That Work with Less Work from You, Rodale, →ISBN, page 240, column 2:
hypernyms: penmanship
penwomanship
glosses: Handwriting.