Synthesis Essay On Building Monuments And Memorials

One of my most cherished memories as a child was visiting Mr. Rushmore for a field trip. The day was bright, the air clear, and the shining faces of four beloved presidents gazed into the sky, beacons of liberty and freedom. Anyone can type in the name George Washington into a Google search and find a plethora of information, but an internet search cannot replicate the massive gravity felt while gazing upon the 1st president’s stony face. The world needs monuments. We are obligated to construct monuments and memorials for the sake of honoring the past and teaching the future. When agencies and governments act upon this duty for memorialize, two main factors stand for consideration: the practical and the emotional.
When considering building a monument and memorializing a person or event, agencies must first think practically. What is to be built? How much will it cost? Where shall it be placed? Clearly, if an agency is to honor the past, they must plan carefully and build respectfully. As illustrated in Source F, when sufficient finds cannot be gathered, a monument goes to waste, and history is disrespected. Rats eventually gnawed through “The Main Lobsterman,” a small monument meant to
Agencies should ask this simple question: If this event had never happened or this person had never lived, would this place, this country, this world, be radically different? If no, don’t memorialize it. If yes, memorialize it. If the lobsterman had never existed, the Earth would likely still turn; therefore, the lobsterman need not be memorialized. On the other hand, if George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, or Theodore Roosevelt had never been born, nothing in this world would be the same—America would forever remain an idea, slavery would continue to fetter, and the natural jewels of America would cease to