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Grace Maloney
Ms. Thompson
AP Lang Block 1, Skinny B
March 30, 2015
Synthesis Publish Ready
Monuments
The group of students grudged their way back onto the bus, leaving for their next
destination: their school try to Washington D.C. After an eighteen hour bus drive and
hundreds of dollars in food and hotels, the students only see rocks- rocks that could be
seen just as well from a Google search, rocks that all of tourist America has seen through
trips, pictures, and videos, rocks. Yet each day, the peers look through the eyes of artists
and historians into another time period by looking at the exquisitely shaped, named,
sculpted, placed, and designed stone: our countrys greatest sculptures and monuments.
From the Holocaust to Paul Reveres Ride, each monument tells a story and teaches a
timeless lesson in an enlightening and powerful way, appealing to intrepid patriotism and
jingoism for the United States. When creating a monument, the artists and designers must
consider the meaning or underlining purpose of the monument, who it is intended for (as
well as their ideals), and what kind of impact the monument will make based on its
location.
First, every inveterate monument is meant to tell a story about a person, a
movement, or an event, making the intended meaning extremely important in the
constructing of a monument. In close proximity to D.C., the Lincoln Memorial stands tall
and strong, serving as a reminder of how remarkable President Lincoln was and how

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important of a role he played in the Civil War time period (Source A). However, nothing in
the memorial is actually him, nothing happened there that actually related to him, nothing
connects. Yet everyday, thousands of tourists go to see this amazing (and huge) monument
and are taken away by its amazingness. Although Lincoln is not actually there and nothing
actually happened there, the Lincoln Memorial tells a story through its enormous, fatherly
Lincoln, resting in his chair and the round sense of unity of the Monument, representing
how Lincoln reconnected the country after the Civil war, and the inscribed speeches,
which Lincoln made, his words tying the country back together, one syllable at a time
(Source A). The Lincoln Memorial did everything it was supposed to for its purpose in
reminding the country of Lincoln pulling America back together, just as the action stature
of Paul Revere reminds tourists of his bravery that night, April 17, 1776 (Source B).
Next, artists need to consider whom the monument is for. In Source E, Musser
discusses the atrocities of planting a Holocaust museum in D.C.s National Mall. The
Holocaust Museum would act as a cordial memorial to the countrys Jewish population
who lost family in World War II to Nazi Germany. Yet the monument would not be seen as
nice and welcoming to the Jews; it would be seen as offensive (Source E). In World War
II, the U.S. did not do much to help the Holocaust victims in Europe (Source E). Thus,
putting a monument in the nations capitol could be seen as insulting and insensitive.
Similarly, a sculpture is being made in South Dakota of Crazy Horse, an Indian Leader
(Source C). The sculptors have been working since 1948- perfecting the face before even
moving on to the body (Source C). However, the Sioux people (whom the statue is
supposedly intended for) do not appreciate the time, money, or efforts being put into this
statue. They believe it makes him look proud and vain, even though Crazy Horse was a

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man so humble he never got painted or sculpted, so the artists do not even know what he
looks like. Both of these circumstances had great intensions but resulted in being
extremely insensitive to groups of people.
In conclusion, monuments, statues, museums, etc. are all very important for
education on our country as well as remembrance of the good and bad past. Throughout
history, different monuments have proven to be amazing, loved, and monumental in
representing the past through a famous person, event, or time period. However, the
sensitivity of the situation and group of people the monument is intended for needs to be
considered before different statues result in upset and angry people instead of the calm,
peaceful remembrance planned.