Small a should be reviewed frequently as a movement drill.
Drill 39
The first part of small a serves as the foundation of small c. In making connective lines, an over-motion must be used. If an under-motion is used from the ending of one c to the dot at the top of the next, there will be a loop, and the letter will be too large. After making a few lines, compare the height of c with o, a, m, and n. You will, of course, frequently compare with the copy. The count is 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8, 9–10; or dot over, dot over, dot over, dot over, dot over, for each group of five. The speed should be sixteen groups of five, or eighty letters a minute.
LESSON 37
Drill 40
The small r given in the first line in drill forty cannot be made at a high rate of speed, as the form requires a checking of movement at the top to form the shoulder. Study the parts of the letter shown before the first completed form.
The form in the second line can be made at much higher speed, and, while somewhat difficult to learn, is much easier in execution when mastered. The first part of it is just like the first part of small m or n. The downward stroke is retraced to a point about one-fourth of a space above the first part; a stop (hardly noticeable) and a dot are made before the swinging curve to the next letter. If the connective lines between letters of this style are made with too much under-curve, perhaps touching the base line, they will more nearly resemble small x than r. Guard against this fault.