Sadness

I'll be describing "sadness" as an example - here are my thoughts:

1) When I'm sad, I feel all over the place; I'm moody - I sometimes feel like I don't want to talk to others, and I don't feel like doing anything. Other times, I want to scream and cry, and I feel a great sense of loss, a sense of wanting that empty void to be filled. Sometimes both of these feelings mesh.

2) I think this emotion goes all over the place - again, moodiness affords all sort of tempos!

3) Dynamics: a constant ebb and flow
Articulations: this are slurred together
Pitches: lots of big, emotional leaps during the intense sadness, but smaller during the less intense moment. Generally, lower in the less intense moments, but high when it gets emotional.
Rhythms/Duration of notes: long, drawn out (nothing quick or complex).

Extra notes: on the performer's side of things, there may be extra use of vibrato, and lots of rubato (so the tempo shouldn't be too strict) - it should be "feelingful," so to say.