By Alex Lawrence, Multimedia Team
From the dawn of time there has been writing. Not really actually, since we either came from Adam and Eve, who were probably illiterate, or from single-cell organisms, and the last time I checked bacteria can’t really write. Anyway, writing has existed for more than 5,000 years and I think we can all safely agree that the best tool for manuscription is – without a doubt – the pen.
Since before the ballpoint pen was even invented in 1938, the pen has always been a symbol of innovation and prowess. Starting out as a literal feather, the pen has predominantly been a way for men (or women) to display their own level of regalness and sense of self-worth to others. Ever since then, the pen has been the greatest writing utensil, even better than the marker.
Yes, even scented markers.
What pens are certainly better than, however, are pencils.
Pencils have been around since God knows when, and really, God is the only one who cares. They’re believed to have been developed in the late 1500s and improved in the 1700s, but they still have a long way to go.
Pencils, first of all, break at the slightest bit of pressure necessary to write anything, while pens write very clearly without having to use any extra pressure. The ink flows like a river straight from heaven itself. Secondly, pencils are just plain uncomfortable, unless you go all the way to Office Depot and buy a pencil grip, which most of us forgot about back in elementary school.
Third, pencils are just not smooth to write with. While pens glide ceaselessly across sheet after sheet of paper, pencils require effort to scratch across a piece of paper as they get tinier and tinier to the point where you cannot even hold them anymore.
Finally, it is time to talk up the pen, the writing titan that we all know and love. Pens in this day and age are erasable, the one and only trump with which pencils had to lord over pens. Pencils are useless without the exclusive attraction of an eraser, and the only purpose they actually serve is to be used on Scantrons which, let’s be honest, will probably become obsolete in the next few years, too.
Pencils are, without a doubt, beginning to exhaust their existence in the hands of students everywhere, especially when compared to pens. Before long, the pen, and maybe the sniffable marker, will be the only writing utensils left to use. With this development in literacy, a new light is shining upon education everywhere.
Goodbye pencil. Hello penmanship.
For the other point of view (get it?) on pencils from Bobby Scanlon, click here.
What is your favorite writing utensil? Why? Tell us below to prove who wins: Alex or Bobby!