memorial essay

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Memorial Essay

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Topic: argue for a memorial

History is acknowledged and shaped through memorialization. Think of the graveyard to Union soldiers erected on Robert E Lee’s lawn; or the violent rallies after the Charlottesville, Virginia city council decided to take down a statue of Lee.

For the writing assignment in this course, you will make an argument in the style 1 of a local newspaper op-ed for a memorial or statue that you think should exist because it tells an important story in American history that deserves more thought. The memorial may be as simple as a statue of an individual person, or could be more complicated (a description of a memorial to soldiers in a war, for example; a parallel monument erected opposite something that already exists.)

This is an open-ended assignment designed for you to find some connection to American history; but there are two major restrictions:

• The figure must be a historical person or group , and the argument for their inclusion must be grounded in their historical significance along the themes of the course.
• The monument (if not the person) must be at least controversial; their placement must be making some kind of that reasonable people could disagree with. It’s better to err on the side of an outrageous suggestion (e.g., there should be a statue of Alexander Berkman with a gun in front of the headquarters of some leftist group to remind them that violence makes problems worse) than a milquetoast one (Abraham Lincoln should have a statue in Cambridge because he’s important, but the nearest statue is in Boston).

The precise thing memorialized need not be in the textbook, but the general themes should be ones we’ve discussed in this course.

Points to touch on

Some points you must touch on, though not necessarily in this order:

• Who or what do you want a statue of?
• What is that person or event? Describe them for a general audience.
• Where, exactly? (Be descriptive. “Suspended in the middle of the ISEC building’s atrium” is better than “on the Northeastern campus.”)
• What vision of America or American history would the monument summon?
• What message would putting the statue up in this particular location send?
• Who would potentially be upset by this? Why is it controversial?
• What are the most important counter-arguments to putting up this memorial as you describe?
• How does your monuments subject fit into the broader scope of American history as we’ve read it in this course?

Some points you might touch on, if you have good reason.

• In what style, medium, or format should the monument be executed?
• You can, if you really want, include a sketch, map, or photograph which you want to base the memorial on. You could even draw it yourself.

Other fine points (this list may be updated online in response to questions):

• Assume that cost is no object.

Citing sources

You must cite at least one primary source about the event you describe, and one contemporary source (either about the event you describe, or about the counterarguments or points of view that you want your memorial to contest.) You must also provide citations for any statements you make that are not general knowledge.

Your essay should be between 1000 and 1200 words. Please indicate the word count at the bottom of the document. If you are unfamiliar with the genre, read a few from a local paper.

Format as double-sided and export as a pdf from your word-processing platform of choice.

This is an extremely short essay; make each word useful, and edit carefully.

Cite any evidence you use through footnotes. Cite documents consistently; an online guide to one style is here: https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/turabian-footnote-guide . But you can use another method as long as all citations are in footnotes, not in running text.

Submission and due date.

It should be turned in online over Blackboard. Final copies are due Friday, December 1 by 5pm.

If you wish to have an initial draft read and fully commented on, you may turn one in by Friday, November 17.

Some additional notes and guidelines

• You must turn in your paper as a PDF. Seriously, no word documents. It must be a PDF. Unless you expect other people to edit your documents later, this is the way to send them to people; learn if you haven’t.
• You must provide citations in footnotes. Do this as you write–it’s not something to go through and do more fully later.
• The quality of the sources you cite matters; some random web page you don’t know the author for is not a strong source, and reflects poorly on your whole argument. A good citation is: someone well known whose views carry weight; an academic article in a peer-reviewed journal; an article in a reputable national publication or one of the leading newspapers for a region. A bad citation is: some random website. A mediocre citation is: an encylopedia.
• You must make a positive argument for the statue you want to see. It’s OK if you’re not entirely convinced the statue should exist; but if you secretly think what you’re arguing for is a terrible idea, there’s a very strong chance those reservations are well grounded. In particular , I really strongly recommend that you not write something that you wouldn’t at least consider posting as your own opinion online and not make any statements about what other people think that you wouldn’t feel guilty saying to them in person.
• It’s a requirement that the statue be controversial; but you don’t get more points for being more controversial, and being offensive is straightforwardly bad. As a rule of thumb; if you can’t imagine half your classmates saying, “sure, let’s try it” to your proposal at the end, you’re probably on the wrong track of writing a persuasive essay. Remember, this country is undergoing a massive controversy right now about kneeling during the national anthem; it takes extremely little to make something controversial.
• Saying “a statue” with no more description than that is boring. Boring is bad. What will it look like?
• Subtlety is good. If other people think person A is bad, don’t just say person A is good and those other people are wrong. Acknowledge that person A had bad parts as well as good ones. Find a way to incorporate the bad parts of A into your memorial, rather than making it just a celebration. Remember, this is not a legal brief where you’re trying to just make a case; instead, you should be trying to persuade as many people with different views as possibl.e

By the “in the style of,” I mean: actually think of this as a draft of an op-ed you could send into a newspaper. But there are a couple places you may need to depart. If there are things you absolutely need to say that don’t fit into this style, put them into a footnote. ↩

Memorial in Washington

How it works

Located in downtown Washington DC, between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr memorial sits proudly remembering a man who was not elected official, but nevertheless influenced and changed the course of American history. The memorial commemorates the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. a leader, pastor and activist who fought for equal rights and justice through nonviolence measures, often using his words as a weapon of choice. The inspiration for the memorial design is a line from King's iconic 'I Have A Dream' speech he gave on the Lincoln memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. Need a custom essay on the same topic? Give us your paper requirements, choose a writer and we’ll deliver the highest-quality essay! Order now

(U.S. National Park Service, 1) When entering the memorial, visitors walk through two massive white granite halves of the “Mountain of Despair” to reach the “Stone of Hope,” from Martin Luther King comes forth. On the figure itself, engraved is the quote and metaphor taken from his speech, 'Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.' Visitor move through the struggle Martin Luther King faced before ending up in the open freedom of the plaza. Freedom Plaza now remains a popular space for political protests and civic events in Washington DC. The Martin Luther King memorial, honors his life, the movement he led , and his message of hope that captures a world of promise for democracy and equality

Description of Method(s)

The centerpiece for the memorial is based on a line from King's iconic 'I Have A Dream' speech: 'Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” A metaphor defined by Lakoff and Johnson is “poetic imagination and rhetorical flourish- a matter of extraordinary than ordinary language.” () They suggest the idea behind a metaphor is experiencing one kind of thing in forms of another in that language is metaphorically structured to provide a message.() Lakoff and Johnson believe that language often gets in the way of thinking, separates us from the ideas we might have, which cannot be explained even to ourselves, and metaphors can explain how we are feeling by decoding complex concepts that might be unfamiliar to us. 555() While a metaphor can highlight messages, they often hinder messages. In addition, metaphors are culturally bound which means we as a society create them and have a goal in mind to persuade others of our own beliefs. Often views of metaphors are born into them and survive off them, in the way they govern and shape our beliefs and reality. Yet, metaphors can be visual and thought-provoking and cam stimulate the emotional and actual subconscious part of your audience’s brains to make connections between our word and the message of the metaphor. Therefore, metaphors increase the power of storytelling by understanding complex messages, and enhancing key features that we want to communicate.

Interpretation of Artifact

Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech was a message of hope for all those who watched him. In particular he spoke, “Out of the of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope,” This is a metaphor used to understand the word hope. Hope is an optimistic state of mind, the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. Although the message highlights that hope can be seen in a stone, it hinders the fact that hope, is not an object. There is nothing that can scream that this particular object, a table for example is hope. However, hope can be expressed. Although it can be quite difficult as it is an abstract term and open for interpretation.Visual metaphors, like this one allow the audience process ideas in two channels of their brain, creating a deeper impact as they sync the visual with the verbal.This stone in this case helps clarify and remind visitors of what hope means to them by seeing a physical form of hope. This memorial creates a vivid image of Martin Luther King Jr’s message of hope, easier to understand and more rememberable as visitors can physically see “hope” in a stone.

Given that Martin Luther King was a pastor, it is no surprise that the metaphor has biblical resource. First of all, his reference to a 'mountain of despair' symbolizes the long, seemingly hopeless struggle of African Americans for freedom and equality. In the bible, larger stones were often described as mountains. mountain represents something that is seemingly unmovable, and yet can be moved--when Jesus tells His followers in Matthew 17:20 that if one has sufficient faith, even a mountain can be moved the apparently unchanging reality of segregation and its attendant evils can be changed through hope.

Comparing hope to a stone's implies that like stones are, hope, as well, is concrete, strong and resistant because it can withstand anything. However the message hinder the fact that hope is not concrete and isn’t a stable, like the idea of a stone implies. As a large stone is often use to describe a barrier between where a person can or can't be. This wall, or barrier hindered Martin Luther King's progress. Nevertheless he persisted, and emerged out of the mountain. He is the stone of the hope in this memorial. A much smaller mountain but nevertheless still impactful. It reminds the audience, the power that one individual has the power to do.. However, He is MLK’s body is also unfinished an attached, symbolizing his tragic death at 39, and the movement for equality he helped lead is unfinished today. Being attached versus free shows that America has denied him life's full joys, having emerged from it, it shows us the strength it took to get out of there

The full quote to Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech is “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” Clearly, King thought that faith not he was the hope. Yet others admire his passion and valued him for his work. Therefore, they look to Martin Luther King and his message for for inspiration and guide. The city honored him with a safe space where people could be free to engage in important topics such as democracy and equality regardless race, color, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age. In the bible, a stone in the past has been represented as a place where those can see shelter, as when David speaks of seeking the safety of the 'Lead me to the rock that is higher than I' (Psalm 61:2). That is, we can find shelter in hope. In addition, the viewers can find hope when they see the memorial of Martin Luther King Jr.

The memorial is inspiring to those who visit. Metaphors have the power to change narratives. Often or not many of us get stuck the spiral of negative and affects daily life products. The situation relied on how we think, how we see the world, our perspective. The fact is that we have the power to change our narrative, if we take a step back and adequately look how it impact our life, only there can we create a new story to tell. Martin Luther King has a story. This space allows it to heard and shared. Our lives become more fulfilling when our life is about story. When walking through the mountain of despair, through the stone of hope to freedom plaza, where we all ought to be. Metaphors are impactful, as they help devolve into a story. They become teaching tools as they often give us pause for thought, help us to ponder ideas on a deeper level into what our story is. The magic lies in our ability to care for it understand, and create a new one. Martin Luther King crafted a new story, a story of hope which he shares to all of us.

Evaluation of Artifact.

The site serves to commemorate Dr. King’s life and will forever serve as a monument to remind viewers of a world of equality, a life in which King fought for. By having a memorial dedicated to him, it says that the world acknowledges his efforts, and signifies him as an iconic leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It is no accident that the Martin Luther King Jr memorial was placed adjacent to the Lincoln and Jefferson memorial. These memorials demonstrate that these figures are important leaders in history for civil rights across history, all drawing back from the Constitution where it says, “all men are created equal,” It draws on democratic views that all voice of all should be shared, but this cannot be done. It does not allow a space, for people to criticize Martin Luther King, only honor him.

By having a physical place for the memorial in Washington DC, it symbolizes that America recognizes him as an iconic face for the movement for all those to learn from him and honor him regardless of race, religion, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. With this statue, and display of Martin Luther King in the stone it shows the path to the democracy and equality, has been a long struggle. King being emerged from this stone signals that he has made great progress in the Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom for his nonviolent approach to the Civil Rights Movements () King's Message of nonviolence can continues to influence people, in the fight for civil rights. It shows that our voice, not violence, is the way for people in to enact change Washington. Martin Luther King's views were not first thought as inspiring, hopeful, like they are now. He was often remarked as extremist with the FBI calling him as “demagogic” and “the most dangerous to the Nation on a national security level. Similarly to today, advocates of civil rights like, Black Lives Matter are a group and for the most part a peaceful protesters yet they have been called a 'hate group,' (O'Connor, 1) In addition, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is said to be “disrespecting our country,” for kneeling when not standing for the pledge. (@realDonaldTrump, 1). These setbacks have no stopped fight for civil rights. Thus, this monument serve as a continual reminder to Americans that their nation has yet to realize some aspects of Martin Luther King’s dream but also a powerful reminder of the ability of individuals to effect change. The actions of these individuals mirror the struggle Martin Luther King It shows one, that they should never give up, to be hopeful and because they have the power implement change. The freedom plaza at the memorial is the ideal place place for people to be. However that’s not generally how a story starts. Martin Luther King came from the “mountain of despair”, saw hope through a stone, and emerged from it. His unfinished dream is to end up in Freedom plaza, where we as guest, now have the pleasure of walking around. Freedom Plaza remains a popular space for political protests and civic events in Washington DC. symbolizing that struggle to fulfill equality. The memorial serves a beautiful message to inspire others, for those who are feeling some despair, to look to Martin Luther King, and the stone for hope, strength and guidance.

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Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Veterans — The Importance Of The Duty of Honoring Veterans

The Importance of The Duty of Honoring Veterans

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The Importance of Honoring Veterans

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