Q

On the first day of class, when given only a few moments to scribble down my favourite letter, I impulsively chose the letter G. When asked to explain my reasoning, the only rationale I could provide was that it was the most recently modified letter in my handwriting and, therefore, still new and fun for me to write.

On further consideration of the project at hand, however, I began to feel that this was not sufficient reason to choose a letter. If I am to fully explore the expressive possibilities of a letter, I would rather begin with a letter that I have stronger mental associations with. With this in mind, I chose the letter Q.

When I think of the letter Q, the first word that comes to mind is the adjective “unique” (which, interestingly enough, contains said letter). It is the second most rarely used letter in the English alphabet. In addition, unlike other letters in the English alphabet, its presence in a word almost always depends on the presence of the letter U (which in turn has no such dependency on Q). It is not your everyday letter.

Despite my fascination with Q, I confess to feeling rather neutrally towards it. Perhaps it is its absence from everyday words that has led me, over the years, to not give it much thought one way or the other until receiving this assignment. I suppose, though, that asked to give my opinion, I would respond more positively to the uppercase Q as opposed to its lowercase counterpart (probably due to the lowercase's similarity in appearance to a p or a g). Uppercase cursive Q's have always vexed me for looking too much like the number 2.

I feel that the letter Q is often used in conjunction with question marks, probably due largely in part to its commonly serving as the abbreviation for the word “question.” I therefore feel that the letter Q instinctively has an air of being quizzical or inquisitive. I hope to play off of this in the way I make it look, as well as maybe trying to emphasize its distinctiveness from other letters.

If the letter Q was capable of movement, I imagine it would inch itself forward, pulling itself by its tail. It could try to roll, similar to an O, but would inevitably get caught on its own tail and probably get stuck, like a bike's kickstand. If happy, it would probably wag its tail.