Handwriting Analysis

So I don't remember what I was looking up the other day (what else is new), but I somehow stumbled upon this interesting handwriting analysis site. I have always been fascinated with the idea how something as mundane as a person's handwriting can tell you intricate details about their personality. From the letter spacing to size to pressure applied, every tiny detail is imperative to distinguish a person's personality characteristics. Yes, handwriting analysis can be seen as subjective and it definitely has its flaws. BUT, it has been shown that talented handwriting analysts have greater than 90% accuracy. Still skeptical? Let's put this analysis into action with a few American authors we have come across (link included after each analysis).

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Time Period: The Colonial Period
Famous Pieces: The Autobiography, Poor Richard's Almanack
Genre(s): Autobiography, narrative
Writing Style: Plain, informational, can be satirical

Common Themes: Wealth, politics, self independence, realistic

Handwriting Analysis: From an analysis, some of Mr. Franklin's positive traits include logical, innovative, creative, independent, and desires authority. Some of his negative traits include conceited, materialistic, critical, and can be easily irritable. 1

Conclusion: I think Benjamin's handwriting analysis reflects his writing pretty accurately. He is often straight forward and right to the point in his writing style. One of his popular topics to write about was wealth, which correlates with his materialistic trait. Another related attribute is his love for politics, which is reflective in the desires authority trait. All in all, this one was hard to disagree with.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

Time Period: Romanticism

Famous Pieces: The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart

Genre(s): Short stories, poems

Writing Style: Gothic, dramatic

Common Themes: Love, madness, evil, horror

Handwriting Analysis: Some of Poe's personality characteristics that are seen from an analysis of his handwriting include organized, traumatic past, skeptical of new information, prideful, and cooperative. 2

Conclusion: This one is harder to correlate. Organized can easily be seen by his style of writing. Every aspect was well thought out, especially his rhythmic rhyming in particular poems. He preferred shorter pieces of work that got the point across without being too drawn out. His traumatic past can refer to his parents dying at the age of three and his trouble with relationships. This is easily reflected in his work like The Raven, which revolves around a lost love. One interesting fact I should mention is that Poe actually dabbled in the art of graphology (aka handwriting analysis). Could this have influenced a change in his own handwriting? I guess we will never know.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Time Period: End of Romanticism, and Realism

Famous Pieces: Success is Counted Sweetest, Hope, A Bird Came Down the Walk

Genre(s): Poems

Writing Style: Lyrical, precise, modern

Common Themes: Love, death, doubt, faith

Handwriting Analysis: As you can see, Emily had very different handwriting when compared to the others. Some of her personality characteristics that can be seen from her handwriting include emotionally expressive, visionary, independent, fluidity of thought, and need for personal space. 3

Conclusion: Emily was a unique woman of her time, and I think her handwriting reflects that. Later in her life, she tended to be a reclusive individual, which can be suggested by her independent way and need for personal space. It also predicts she was emotionally expressive. This is easily seen in her work where her topics often include strong emotions from her (at times) brutal honesty.

Go to this link which includes an online book where you can easily analyze your own handwriting. What does your handwriting say about you?

Literature & Art

I used to not be a big fan of art. I don’t know what it was, but in the past I would never give a painting two thoughts. I even saw paintings in person by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Picasso (to name just a few) IN PERSON at the Met in NYC, and still could not wrap my head around the cult-like following these painters have.

But, that all changed when I took an art appreciation class last semester that focused on, you guessed it, understanding and appreciating art. It really opened up my eyes about what is happening “behind the scenes” of a piece of art. Now, I am so fascinated by the meaning behind it, particularly paintings. It is quite the experience now when I can actually understand a painting by what time period it was from, what the artist was going through at the time, what movement was popular at that time, etc.

As previously stated, I have found my favorite period in American literature to be Romanticism. Romanticism is not the lovey-dovey subject you probably think of when you first hear it. Instead, Romantic artists honored individualism, emotion, and irrationalism, while their reasonable intellect took a back seat. Some of my favorite Romantic authors include Poe, Dickinson, Hawthorne, and Melville, to name a few. But, the Romanticism does not only apply to authors. Listed below are three of my favorite Romantic paintings, which I encourage you to check out more.

"Steamer in a Snowstorm" by Joseph Turner

"Steamer in a Snowstorm" is the epitome of Romanticism. It is a far cry from a classical piece, which was the style before Romanticism. Instead, this painting shows off the individual expression of the artist and emotional feeling you get from the fury of the storm. I feel like it is comparable to a lot of Poe's work, like "The Raven" or "The Tell-Tale Heart", which tend to send you on an emotional, whirling roller coaster ride where you don't know up from down.

"Abbey in an Oak Forest" by Caspar David Friedrich

Nature is a frequent regular subject for Romanticism artist, but it would not be a Romantic piece without a twist like this painting provides. "Abbey in an Oak Forest" depicts a sense of dramatic mystery that is often frequented by Romantic artist. When first viewing this piece, I immediately thought of Emily Dickinson's work. Common themes of hers include haunted nature and death, which I think this painting depicts perfectly.

"The Voyage of Life Manhood" by Thomas Cole

"The Voyage of Life" includes a series of paintings by Thomas Cole portraying the journey by man through four life stages, childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. During the first two stages (childhood and youth), the scenery starts out bright and colorful in a peaceful and naive way. Once manhood is reached, life takes a turn for the worst as the once naive way of life has lifted and the sudden reality begins to portray itself. I think this painting relates to "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, as sudden realizations of reality sets in.

What painting of its time relates to your favorite piece of literature?

The Dark Side of Romanticism

Romanticism has turned out to be my favorite genre that I have come across in my American Literature class. More specifically, I love the dark side of it. You know, the emotionally tragic and disturbing type of stories that make you want to hug your stuffed teddy bear afterwards because it deeply troubled your psychological health. All right, they may not be that mentally distraught, but you get the idea.

What I like most about this genre is how each story has a unique meaning to each individual reader. If you are looking for a story with a message at the end that brings it all together, these are not the type for you. In contrast, they are filled with intensely intriguing plots that pull you along line by line, only to leave you perplexed at the end. Each story’s meaning is up for interpretation, entitling the reader to fill in the blanks.

So, if you think you’re up for the challenge, listed below are a few of my reading suggestions from American writers that also loved the loosely defined Dark Romantic subgenre. (Warning: The following reading suggestions have been known to invoke obscure, mentally questionable thoughts. Read at your own risk.)

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe is the epitome of dark, gothic writing. You cannot even mention this style without his name coming up. “The Raven” is considered to be one of his most famous pieces of work, which is not hard to fathom. It centers on an unnamed narrator who is profound in his sorrow for the loss of a woman named Lenore (a common theme in Poe’s work). As insanity pursues the narrator, you follow along with the rhyming, almost musical, writing style while his dramatic hallucination and rollercoaster of emotions adds to the enticement. This story is an A+ in my book.

“The Minister’s Black Veil” y Nathaniel Hawthorne

More popularly known for “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work typically surrounds the ideas of guilt and sin. “The Minister’s Black Veil” follows directly along those lines. The story starts out depicting a calm, town scenery, when a Reverend arrives wearing a black veil. Curiosity ensues, shortly followed by disturbed thoughts as the town people try to figure out the Reverend’s motive for the newly adorned mask. Why is he wearing it? What is he hiding? I guess you will have to read it to find out.

“Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville

Best know for “Moby Dick”, Herman Melville can be described as an Anti-Transcendentalist who has delved a bit in the Dark Romanticism subgenre. In the beginning of the story, the character Bartleby can be seen as any other hire at the narrator Lawyer’s office. But soon enough, a response from Bartleby jumpstarts the questioning and digging into whom he actually is and what he represents. Although upfront this story may appear less “dark” than the others, the questionable nature and distraught main character that is a staple in Dark Romanticism still remains at the forefront.

What is your favorite genre and piece?

Introduction

Welcome! This blog was created for an assignment for my on-line English class (American Literature I). However, I am hoping it will turn into much more than an assignment, maybe an outlet for creative writing perhaps? Who knows, but hopefully you will join me for the adventure. Fasten your seat belts; it might be a bumpy ride.

You don’t personally know me? No problem! Here are a few fun facts about myself:

1. I am a 5th year senior at Purdue University studying General Health Science and will (hopefully) be graduating in December.

2. I have no idea what I want to do after I graduate. I switched majors oh, about 5 times, and still am unsure of what I want to do for the rest of my working life. But, experimenting and figuring things out are what your 20s are for (or so I keep telling myself that).

3. I am a high school softball coach. I played from ages 6-18, opted not to play in college, and am now in my third year of coaching girls from 12-18 years old. It has been a crazy ride, but easily one of the best decisions I have ever made.

4. I am a big fan of science fiction and dystopian genres. My kindle would probably ask, “Are you sure?” if I downloaded a book from any other genre.

5. If I had to choose one author to read for the rest of my life, I would probably choose James Rollins. I have read every book of his, and always mark my calendar for when the next one is coming out (January 2013 wooo!). The book “Amazonia” is what got me started on his collection, and still is my #1 favorite to this day.

What are some of your favorite authors?