[Illustration]
Small a is, in the main, a reduced copy of capital A, and the first
parts of small d, g, and q are identical with it. Fix the resemblance in
the mind; it will help you. In business writing it is best to make the
looped small d. It is just as legible as the stem and can be made more
rapidly. The loop below the base line in small g should be made without
finger motion. We favor the blunt style of small g and y at the end of
words, and this ending should be shorter than the loop. Fix in your mind
the length of this abbreviated g. Small q is a little shorter below the
base line than g. The g ending bluntly below the base line, is just like
the figure nine.
=Drill 30=
[Illustration]
It will pay you to practice the small a drill a great deal. Try to make
a half-dozen or more lines of letters as small and as uniform as the
copy. Students should not forget to study the copy constantly and to
make frequent comparisons of their work with it. A count of 1, 2, should
be used for each small a, and in connecting five letters it is a good
plan to count 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8, 9–10.
Small a in groups of five should be made at the rate of seventy a
minute.