Monument Project
Rationale:
Many of our earliest experiences of history involve Public History. This may be a statue near where you live, a trip to a historic site, a museum exhibition, or a mural on the side of a building. All of these monuments and their depictions and interpretations of history have powerful effects on our understanding of the past and what our society values presently and moving forward. For this project you will explore these issues through two main assignments:
Task:
Write a proposal for a monument in which you explain and justify your artistic choices based on your own evidence. Create a monument that commemorates a person, group, idea or event in American History. And finally, write a reflection on your monument.
The Final Product: Proposal, Monument & Reflection
1. Monument Proposal (2 pages typed, double-spaced): This serves as a place to give historical context necessary for your modern readers to understand and appreciate your work. Imagine that you are releasing this forward as the monument is dedicated. Here, you explain to your reader why this event/person deserves to be memorialized and the historical theory you are using to understand this event/person in history. This section of your project should address the following questions:
Why are you choosing this event/person and using this chosen theory?
Has this person/event been forgotten, misremembered or ignored?
How does your monument/depiction challenge or offer an alternative to existing monuments?
Describe your monument in rich detail
General appearance
Style of art
Written texts that will be on it
Materials used
Location (include a map to show the exact placement)
Orientation (which direction it will face, what it will be facing)
Works Cited Page
2. Monument
Representation of monument/memorial in any of the following forms:
Guided Walking/Bicycle tour of site or landscape
Painting, Mural, series of detailed drawings
Model/Sculpture/Prototype/design of building, statue
Diorama
Historical Reenactment
Song/Album of songs
Museum exhibition
Dear writer, please note that for this part of this project Monument design, you can provide me with instructions on how to create the monument for this project. The monument could be a 2D/3D monument or any other choice from the above. Just send me a brief description in writing or a sketch of how I should construct or design that monument. So that I can build the movement for this project by myself. Please send me a message if you have any questions about this project. and please check all files that I attached to this order. Thank you!
3. Monument Reflection (2 pages typed, double-spaced): This section should focus on critiquing the monument you designed.
What Historical Theory does the monument utilize to present History?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of presenting this time period, event, or person through this monument?
How do people come into contact with this monument and what do they leave knowing and not knowing?
What do our public monuments and memorials indicate about how society remembers its past?
How would a historian critique your monument?
What are the functions of your memorials or monuments? What should be their function?
What does the design of a memorial or monument suggest about the political, ethical, cultural and aesthetic (artistic) values of its designer, historical time period, and its sponsors?
How does Public History shape our understanding of the present?
How did your sources influence the monument?
4. A Works Cited / Works Consulted page.
Citing Sources: In your project you must reference a minimum of 5 sources cited both in-text and in your Works Cited page.
Page Length: In accordance with the outlines above, your project will be about 4 pages long. All work must have one inch margins on all sides, 12 pt Times New Roman and double spacing.
Presentation: In accordance with the format you chose for your monument/memorial you will present it to the class along with a selection of the writing you produce.
Steps (Please complete the all following steps for this project)
Choose a person or event to commemorate:
Proposal Sources:
Proposal:
Monument and Reflection:
Last Completed Projects
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