What to Consider When Creating a Monument

Jim Mathis
Mrs. Carr
AP Language and Composition
16 September 2014
What to Consider When Creating a Memorial
A memorial is a materialistic piece that is intended to make people remember and have an emotional relationship with the event that took place, or person that accomplished a goal or made a great sacrifice that made an impact. What deems something or someone worthy of having a monument created? What should be considered when planning and constructing the monument? There are several factors that should be taking into consideration when preparing to erect a monument; such things are as follows: where could it be located to have the greatest effect, what impact something or someone had, and to make the piece extraordinary and authorative.
When preparing to create a monument, location is imperative. “Why make a pilgrimage to a site with no historical significance to read a text that was already everywhere?” (Savage) What Savage means by this is that it is asinine to build a memorial in a location that has no historical significance to the event, or person that the monument is symbolizing. For example, the statue of Paul “Bear” Bryant, former coach at the University of Alabama, is located outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa where the university is located. Why is it located there instead of somewhere like Florida University, or Georgia? Well, at any other college, the monument would not have as big as an impact as it does.
Even though location plays a big part in planning and creating a monument, it is not the only factor that must be considered. Another thing to consider when contemplating a new monument is what event took place. A monument should be created well enough to where someone can look at it and immediately know what it is memorializing. The photo in Source B is a statue of Christopher Columbus. Most people who see this monument will know who the statue is of, and what he did. This is an imperative quality to incorporate when creating a monument. If people have to think deeply and try and find a reason behind the monument, it was not well made.
The last thing that needs to be considered when creating a monument is to make sure the build is extraordinary and makes an impact. If the piece does not seem to be well made and thought through, then it will have a negative impact on people. Nobody is going to care about something if it appears the people responsible of the monument did not care. “It’s a slow job. After all this time, only his face is complete.” (Downes) Downes is referring to the statue of Crazy Horse, a famous chief for the Native Americans, that was started in 1948, and has yet to be finished. Most of the work was done by one man who worked on the piece until he died; when he died, the only people left who cared enough to work on it was his family. The ones who know how long this piece has been a work in progress can’t really appreciate the statue because why should they care if nobody else cares enough to finish it?
When creating a monument, people should consider where to build it, how to incorporate the event into the piece, and to make the monument authorative and extraordinary. It is extremely important for the creators of a monument to plan and build to the best of their ability, taking these factors into consideration. If the piece is poorly made, erected in a place of no significance to the memorial, or is not clearly presenting the significance of the event or person, then the monument was just a waste of time and could even be taken to the extent of being a disgrace to the person or event that the memorial symbolizes.