HANDWRITING & GRAPHOLOGY
Letter S handwriting analysis
A handwritten s reverses direction between two curves. Compare their size, the central turn and the direction of the terminal stroke.
Compare s letter forms
The two curves flow around a narrow middle. Compare the upper and lower widths.
A more angular form uses distinct changes of direction. Look at the corners separately from the whole letter’s slant.
The capital spans a larger vertical area. Its overall height does not describe the size of the lowercase writing around it.
These original diagrams isolate upper curve, lower curve and balance. Compare their shapes with several occurrences in your own handwriting; the dashed guides show the body band.
What to look for
- Which curve is larger?
- Is the center rounded or pinched?
- Does the ending join obscure the lower curve?
Begin with the ordinary lowercase body, then follow the opening and finishing strokes. Record where the letter joins its neighbors and whether the same form appears at the beginning, middle and end of a word.
Read s within words
Use words such as sample and letters as starting points for a sample comparison. Write them in your ordinary hand, then compare the s forms with examples already present in a note.
A neighboring stroke can close an oval, extend a shoulder or hide a return. Trace the visible boundary before naming the feature. Compare letter shape separately from the word’s slant and the line’s direction.
Connect the letter to a whole-page reading
One letter supplies a local observation. Repeated forms show whether that observation belongs to the wider writing rhythm. Use the linked feature guides to compare its proportions, turns and connections with the rest of the sample.
Compare an enlarged capital or a signature initial with ordinary letters on the same page. A decorative opening may occupy a different height and shape from the body letters that follow it.