Lesson plan

Erasing shield

An erasing shield, eraser shield, or erasure shield is a thin template or mask used to control the effects of an eraser, typically on paper media used by an artist, calligrapher, drafter, or typist. The tool is made of a thin, flexible material such as transparent plastic, or stainless steel shim stock for durability. A number of narrow, straight or curved apertures have been punched out of the shield, similar to a drafting template or drawing stencil. The openings allow the eraser to work in a controlled fashion, while protecting masked areas of the paper from being erased or smeared. Erasing shields can also be used to draw evenly-spaced dashed lines, or as a simple stencil. Erasing shields were common accessories used with a typewriter to ease the correction of mistakes, especially on carbon copies, which were prone to smearing if not erased carefully. Typewriters are less used today, but artists continue to use erasing shields when working directly on erasable paper media, such as pencil drawings, charcoal drawings, or pastels.

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Article summary

An erasing shield, eraser shield, or erasure shield is a thin template or mask used to control the effects of an eraser, typically on paper media used by an artist, calligrapher, drafter, or typist. The tool is made of a thin, flexible material such as transparent plastic, or stainless steel shim stock for durability. A number of narrow, straight or curved apertures have been punched out of the shield, similar to a drafting template or drawing stencil. The openings allow the eraser to work in a controlled fashion, while protecting masked areas of the paper from being erased or smeared. Erasing shields can also be used to draw evenly-spaced dashed lines, or as a simple stencil. Erasing shields were common accessories used with a typewriter to ease the correction of mistakes, especially on carbon copies, which were prone to smearing if not erased carefully. Typewriters are less used today, but artists continue to use erasing shields when working directly on erasable paper media, such as pencil drawings, charcoal drawings, or pastels.

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Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.