Choose a five-letter word and print it twice using potato stamps (a short tutorial on how to create these stamps is available below). The word cannot have repeated letters. Try to make both copies as identical to each other as possible. Take a picture of both copies together and post it in your personal space along with a reflection on the process of preparing, crafting and producing both copies (approximately 300 words).

  • Was there something particularly challenging in the process?

I have chosen the word “gifts” for my potato stamp activity. From the pictures below, you may notice that I have tried my best to fit all of the five letters on one potato. Not only the spacing of the letters has been a challenge, but also the process of carving all of the letters out. Although I have tried my best to be strategic about the word I pick for this activity, this task required a lot of concentration, patience, and perseverance.

  • How much time did it take for you to create the stamps? 

This task has taken me about half an hour to complete. If I have read the instructions properly and made separate stamps to all 5 letters in this word, that would have taken me 5 times more to accomplish this. Evidently, it is a lengthy process.

  • Have you noticed anything particular about the letters that you have chosen to reproduce?

Once I have started using my stamp on a piece of paper, I quickly realized that the letters appear on the paper in reverse order and are smudged. Although I have been disappointed at first, I decided to focus on the process itself and what I have learned rather than on the end result. Besides, some cultures do read from right to left, so it can be argued that my end product is not completely “wrong”. It has become an “aha moment” for me. By the time I have printed the fourth word, the title above the letter i has fallen off (you may spot it on my paper). As you can tell, it is not a very durable tool for printing.

  • Considering the time and effort that took you to create a 5-letter word, how do you feel about the mechanization of writing? 

After listening to the podcast,  Stuff To Blow Your Mind, entitled “From the Vault: Invention of the Book”, I have learned about the history of paper and that in the past books have been handwritten. This activity has made me appreciate the mechanization of writing a lot more than I used to! Not only does it save time, energy, and resources, but it also makes your letter printing look the same and you do not have to wait for the ink to dry! This has been an interesting educational activity and I will definitely try doing it with my class in the future.