Monumental Misunderstanding

 Picture yourself in front of a captivating monument and its lifelike spirit that brings you to the history of the monument, without being there. The representation of monuments gives you a “blast to the past,” with a deep emotional impact. Connections like these bring feelings and understandings that are unattainable from abstract nature of monuments. 

When focusing on the representational aspect of a monument, you gain a stronger connection the monument’s purpose. You learn about the history of why that monument is made. Understanding the history of a monument allows someone to commemorate and become inspired. On the other hand, the abstract nature of a monument allows only an interpretation, not the real meaning. There have been situations where people considered to take down monuments because of their misrepresentation of history. According to Procon, they considered taking down a monument because it “glorify people perpetuated slavery, attempted succession from United States, in the Civil War.” I agree with Procon because when the meaning of a monument is uncertain, it makes it more insignificant and not an educational opportunity, which is the main idea of a monument. When monuments are unrepresentative, it feels to achieve its attend goal making it nearly ineffective. 

After researching memorials, I found a deeper connection to the memorials that I could see the history, rather than the parts of the memorial that I had to interpret. When I saw the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in person, I thought it looked cool, but didn’t feel as if it spoke to me. After researching about Dr. Kings Memorial recently, like the street name of 1964 connects to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that passed with his help, I now find it more inspirational and in understand its importance.

If you are guessing the true meaning of an important-looking monument, it seems like the true meaning has been missed entirely. 

Works Cited

"Historical Statue Removal." Procon. Procon, www.procon.org/headlines/historic-statue-removal-top-3-pros-cons/. Accessed 6 July 2023.


 

Comments

  1. Prachi AgnihotriSeptember 8, 2024 at 8:07 AM

    I really like how you used your in person experience of visiting the Martin Luther King Memorial to support your claim. I also like your closing statement because it connects all of your main points, and states how powerful truly understanding a memorial is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kate BestulSeptember 8, 2024 at 2:45 PM

    Hi Tara! I loved your post and I like how you approached this topic. I agree that abstract nature can result in misrepresentation of a monument. It is hard to know the true meaning when everyone has different beliefs on what the monument means. I really liked how you included your experience with the MLK Memorial, I think that it made your blog more personal!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Isra's PantrySeptember 8, 2024 at 5:56 PM

    I liked how you spoke about the misunderstanding of a monument, when looking at the AP sources we saw many monuments that weren't understood or didn't hold a high importance. I also agree with the source Procon, because it is important that memorials are valued and understood.

    ReplyDelete

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