Please help me with this - from or in.

Maiah said:

E.g. 1. "I recognize my handwriting from these journals. Apparently, what you told me was to an extent, real."

E.g. 2. "I recognize my handwriting in these journals. Apparently, what you told me was to an extent, real."

Is it from or in? And, can anyone tell me if the flow of this dialogue smooth - as in the structure and punctuation. Should I put a comma after apparently?

Thank You in advance!

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My humble opinion is that both covey the meaning and are most likely acceptable speech, though I personally lean toward "in," because I think of myself as looking in a journal.

As for flow, if you want the comma after "extent," you need another to completely set off to an extent.

In fiction, I think any will be good:

"I recognize my handwriting in these journals. Apparently what you told me was to an extent real."

"I recognize my handwriting in these journals. Apparently, what you told me was to an extent real."

"I recognize my handwriting in these journals. Apparently, what you told me was, to an extent, real."

It's dialog, and only you know how you'd like it read.

In my opinion:

You recognise your own handwriting FROM your eyes and your memory.

You recognise your own handwriting when it appears IN these journals.

I'd say in, if the speaker recognizes his handwriting there.

I'd say from, if whatever the speaker sees in the journal helps him recognize his handwriting.

Basically, I think in is cleaner.

If I am looking at a separate specimen of handwriting, not in the familiar journals, I will say that I recognize it from the journals because that is where it became familiar.

If I see a familiar handwriting in an unfamiliar journal, I will say that I recognize it in the journal.

I agree with the last three comments about the dif. between "from" and "in." The correct word depends on the meaning you're going for.

To answer your comma question, you COULD do this:

"I recognize my handwriting in these journals. Apparently, what you told me was, to an extent, real."

"To an extent" is an interrupting phrase, so technically you should include not only the comma after "apparently" but also a comma before "to." However, with all these commas and qualifiers, the speaker sounds highly deliberate, hesitant, and formal. If that isn't the impression you're going for, I'd cut some commas and possibly rephrase so that you don't have an interrupting phrase:

"I recognize my handwriting in these journals. Apparently what you told me was real, to an extent!"

It still sounds pretty hesitant and formal, so again I think it comes down to whether that's your aim.

Both are correct, but they have slightly different overtones:

Maiah said:

E.g. 1. "I recognize my handwriting from these journals. Apparently, what you told me was to an extent, real."!

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E.g. 2. "I recognize my handwriting in these journals. Apparently, what you told me was to an extent, real."!

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This implies to me that you have the journals in front of you or close enough to gesture at them. It's "closer", more immediate.