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October 14, 2005
Gestures
Yesterday, my art history class was at the Isabella Stewert Gardner Museum. Before we began to walk around the museum, my professor Bridget Lynch gave us some background information on the museum and on Romanesque art. Now, she is a very enthusiastic lecturer and the pitch of her voice varies greatly and she gestulates quite wildly. I did notice her gestures were more exagerrated the higher the pitch of her voice. Professor Lynch is a pacer as well. Her steps and her gestures would become quicker when she emphasized a word. Most of her gestures fell into the categories of beats and deictics. For example, when she said the word 'east' she moved her hand in the right direction. Or to indicate in the past (as in history) she would make a movement of waving her hand in the air in front of her to show distance. That falls into the metaphorics. I noticed when she got really excited, she gestured wildly with both arms to emphasize her words. It was a little bit difficult to concentrate on what she was saying while trying to analyze her gestures but I realized her gestures make her lectures a lot more interesting than if she were speaking in a monotone and her arms flat at her sides.
Posted by lcisfreya at October 14, 2005 09:12 PM
Comments
Do you think making the speech "interesting" with arms waving takes away from you listening to the words or do they help? I find its a little of both.
Posted by: Jessica Y at October 16, 2005 01:37 PM