The Memorial : A Step Process Of Connection, Individualization, And Change

People cope with tragedies in many ways. Some people try their best to forget, while others work to make sure the tragedy is never forgotten. The most constructive attitude towards memorials is sanctification.

Many people’s lives have been forever changed because of the tragedy that happened on September 11, 2001. Authors of narrative writing often use historical content as their basis for their writing. Regardless on what type of writing; the facts remain true to the event. To elaborate, these two authors have chosen to write historical content on the traumatizing event that happened on September11,2001, which both develop a similar theme.

If there is one day I dread most upon its arrival, it would be 9/11. Sure there was an immense amount of strength as a nation represented, following the terrorists attacks, but it also brought a great amount of grief and sorrow. I remember watching videos of innocent people jumping from windows in the twin towers hoping to escape the terror. These people believed there was no one to help and no one to help them. They lost hope. In “Remembering a Hero, 15 Years After 9/11” written by Peggy Noonan, published in The Wall Street Journal on September 11th 2016, Alison Crowther—Welles Crowther’s mom—recalls the courageous actions to save the lives of others, made by her son on this horrific day. Noonan utilizes pathos, ethos, asyndeton, and

Memorializing is often the way to remember a very important, intelligent, or rich person who lives above the rest of us. When we memorialize it sets a way to remember someone long after they have passed from life. More often than not those we put in statues and remember are those who change the world for the better or discover something new like Christopher Columbus, and his statue in Riverside Park (Deegan, Jim, source B). Lincoln's memorial isn’t where or had any importance to Lincoln, but it succeeds his most infamous speech he ever had “The Gettysburg Address” (Savage, source A). H. Elroy Johnson a famous lobster trapper, had a statue made but never finished during his lifetime, not until after his death, was the real statue made to memorialize him (Roadside America, source f).

New York: 9/11 Memorial and Museum: This memorial and museum of 9/11 was my favorite site in New York and it also taught me a few life lessons. When you first walk up to the sight there are these two breathtaking fountains in the shape of the square buildings that use to stand straight up. Then around the squared fountains the names of all the victims are written. Just by looking at the fountains it taught me the first lesson, to never take life for granted no matter the situation. Realizing that the victims arose that morning not realizing that it would be their last morning getting out of bed, it disturbs and rattles you a bit. When I sat back and just watched the water flow in the middle of the fountain, it truly hit me that these were all

Monuments are important in keeping history in the present. The viewer experiences the emotions and actions in that specific part of time. Some monuments have awkward locations or the people chosen are unsuitable to represent the time. Any group or agency must consider who the person is and where the monument’s location should be before publically displaying it.

On September 9th, I went to the 9/11 vigil to see what it would completely consist of, but I never would have thought I would have gotten the stories that I did. Going into the event, I expected a normal honor of all that perished during the attack on the world trade center. What I got, was an extremely personal story from President Rob Manuel about his experiences on the attacks. Little did I know, that our university president was basically an eye witness on these attacks. The majority of the vigil consisted of his story about his day leading up to the attacks, during the attacks, and after the attacks. He talked about how he was dropping off his child for daycare for the first time. Then, he went into depth about how he was close

It took me a while to decide which place to go for my museum paper. I honestly didn’t care about my interest at first and depended on the convenience to get to the place. I thought of going to the Grand Central or Louis Armstrong’s house just because I have been there for multiple times and the museum was close to where I stayed. However, after I did some research for other places to visit and unintentionally happened to watch a documentary called, ‘102 Minutes That Changed America’ on YouTube, I changed my mind right away to visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I was in extreme shock for few hours from virtually experiencing the horrific event of 9/11. I lost my words when I saw the scene of people jumping out from the building. My heart was beating and my eyes started to tear from seeing all those horrific events that happened on that day. As I have never learned about this case in detail, everything in the film was too extreme for me to comprehend the situation that was being played in front of my eyes. Therefore, after finishing watching the film, I felt an urge to visit the Memorial and Museum to have a better understanding about the incident.

Criticisms of American funeral practices have been made publicly aware since the 1920’s, and actually go back to ancient times in the scope of human’s ceremonies for the dead. Since the first published argument against modern funerals various authors joined the movement publishing their disparagements of customs for the deceased; that in essence contend the grandiosity and lavish displays are merely a social and psychological representation of the monetary opportunity of funerals (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p. 306-307). Even further, regarding the encompassing funeral industry as exploiting grieving loved ones for their financial gains, while disregarding the actual needs of modern society (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p. 307).

In creating a monument and memorializing an event, the group or agency should consider its importance in bringing together a community, thus providing a sense of attachment. In creating public monuments, it furnishes “a face-to-face encounter in a specially valued place set aside for collective gathering” (Source A). Essentially connecting the past and the present, monuments stand as an absolute reminder of our past. Not only does it serve as a reminder, but it also acts as a holy site as people come together to experience the monument in a simple but powerful way. Monuments establish the sense of community in both a real and imagined fashion. Connections between the people among themselves visiting the authentic public space, and connections between people and history are made. As Source A states, “The public monument speaks to a deep need for attachment that can be met only in a real place, where the imagined community actually materializes.” With memorializing an event, it is important that the emotional connection built off of its fundamental historical significance is considered. Based on Source E, controversy over not only just creating the monument, but also the idea of memorializing the Holocaust was deliberated. Because the United States made little to no effort in preventing the Holocaust, the memorialization of the event drew protest as opponents felt as if this act of remembrance would be offensive emotionally. From this, it is clear that it is important to assess the emotional underlying behind an event and how it could affect communities consequently. Memorializing an event should connect a community, not divide

September 11th, 2001 will be a day that Americans remember for many years to come. A tragedy that killed nearly 3000 innocent people. Fifteen years have passed since that infamous day but it will live on through history forever. Although it will never be forgotten, people tend to read up on the events every year or two, especially around the time it happened. As a way to remember or mourn and gain more knowledge on the attacks, people will often read articles or look at photographs of the event. The article “America marks 15-year anniversary of 9/11 Attacks” and Thomas E. Franklins photograph taken on the day of the attacks serve as a way for people to remember and get that information in their own separate ways.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum was unveiled two months ago in the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, commemorating the 2,977 casualties. The memorial site consists of two large waterfalls and reflecting pools, and parapets inscribed with the names of the people killed encompass those pools. The museum contains more than 11,000 items and 40,000 photos that depict what happened at the World Trade Center. Laura Anderson, aged 33, is seen visiting the memorial every week since the opening of it, walking around the fountains and lingering for hours. She laments about her boyfriend’s demise that occurred after he had visited a friend on that fateful day who worked in the towers. The couple always used to saunter around Lower

One aspect of the Museum that contributes significantly to it being a historical site is the slurry wall. This wall was built to withstand any such attack on the World Trade Center. It helps the visitors to understand what took place on that day. According to an article published on the 9/11 Memorial website, “the ‘slurry wall’ stands as a surviving retaining wall of the World Trade Center that withstood the devastation of 9/11 and presented a testament of the survival and determination” (“Foundation Hall”). During the recovery and rebuilding period, workers manage to reserve one of the columns of the Trade Center from the rubble, this is called the last column, which is the backdrop of the slurry wall, and column is approximately 36 feet tall lined with mementos, memorial inscriptions and poster of missing persons. The 9/11 Memorial reinforces that this wall will promote reflection on the foundation of a resoluteness, hope, and community with which we might build our communal future. (“Foundation Hall”). This slurry wall is one aspect of the memorial that made it a historical site; however, another element that honors its history are the reflection pools. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey described the memorial site as “It consists of two reflected pools and each nearly an acre in size, which feature the largest man-made

For this journal review, I have decided to do a graveyard in Asheville which is very well known. The cemetery – Riverside Cemetery has existed since 1885 and was built by the Asheville Cemetery Company and in 1952 was sold to the City of Asheville. For this review I’ll be focusing on the various styles of graves seen throughout the cemetery, while also emphasizing the meaning of the different artistic symbols seen. I’ll also make sure to note the significant graves and mausoleums that are home to some of the most descriptive artwork. The graveyard is home to more than 14,000 graves some of which carry important meanings or information. I believe graveyards are sacred art museums and while walking through one provides a much different experience, some similarities are important for us to see.

The Smithsonian Museum is a selective representation that allow an intuitive recollection of history oriented by our personal experience, whilst challenging the inflexible traditional museum through its ability to be altered and manipulated by our personal memory and reminiscence. Continuous uploading and addition of new content in conjunction with constantly altering graphics ensures that the website is viewed differently by every responder, allowing our memory of the 9/11 to steer our interpretation of the text. The provision of a 'Tell your story' link, directing responder's to "help document this historic event", places equal academic validity in the function of memory as that of an artefact, and in doing so, essentially intertwines the roles of history and memory as being complementary in the documentation of fact. Supporting this distinct representation of 9/11, the title of the website 'Bearing Witness to History' allows the individual testimonies of its responders to enhance this representation of a unified response to the attack. This is supported by curator William Yeingst who