Over the years, various different ways of creating art to idolize someone have expanded. There’s song writing, painting, literature, but there is one form of art that topples all of these things. This art would be monuments. Monuments in remembrance of one who has made a significant impact on history. When in the process of making monuments, the geographic location, importance of said monuments, and the materials used should be taken into account. The first step of designing a monument would be to consider the value and context between the monument and the location of it. Putting a monument in an area where is has no connection to may result in the value of the monument to decrease. For example, in “Monument Wars: Washington, D.C.”, the National Mall and the Transportation of Memorial Landscape by Kirk Savage, Savage discusses the Lincoln Memorial. Specifically, he says, “...it holds no relics or spiritual trace of a past presence. The site of the Lincoln Memorial, for instance, did not even exist in Lincoln’s lifetime.” Monuments are supposed to give you a spiritual connection with the being commemorated. If you don’t feel as though you knew Lincoln whole at the Lincoln Memorial, then does it serve its purpose? Another factor of creating a monument would be the importance of the event or person being recognized. Things that need to be put into consideration would be if it is something really worth being honored, or how many people know or the person or event, and if they care. For instance, take the “Maine Lobsterman” statue into account. It was a statue made in honor of H. Elroy Johnson, a man who caught lobsters. In the words of Roadside America, “The statue was vandalized, repaired…..and eaten by rats.” If you were the person who funded the statue, would you want your money to be wasted and destroyed in the way the “Maine Lobsterman” statue was? If you were to create a monument, you would want to be recognized by citizens all over the world, not written on or eaten by pest. One of the most important factors of creating a monument are the materials used to create it. It should be put into consideration how long the materials used will last and if they can withstand natural conditions. An example of this would be the South Dakota Badlands. This monument was “made out of soft and crumbling sediment and ash.” As said by Lawrence Downes, this monument will be gone in an “geological instant.” The importance of the longevity of materials is using things such as cement or solid stone makes the longevity of the monument even longer. To create a monument that can truly be appreciated would be to make one that stands for decades or even centuries. In conclusion, monuments can be used as a significant way of recognizing a person or event when set up in the right area, created using the right materials, and when recognizing something important to a vast majority of people.
Revision
In this synthesis essay, I simply changed my sentence structures. Due to the time restraints I was put under caused me to put simple, vague sentences together. This was my first synthesis essay, which meant I wasn't quite sure on how to write a synthesis essay, but I still received a 5 on this essay so I felt as if there wasn't much for me to change except to expand on my vocabulary and sentence types.
Eminent Domain
Throughout the history of the United States, the government has been known to unfairly take property that is not theirs. A way the government tried to justify this was eminent domain, which gives them the right to take private property if they give the private property owner a compensation for their property. Though there has been property used from eminent domain that have flourished and positively impacted the economy, many have misplaced poor citizens, left private property owners without compensation l, and left people jobless. Buying out condemned property to renovate and promote economic development have left many minority groups in terrible situations. Specifically, thousands have lost good paying jobs or have been forced into different living situations. For example, Detroit forced over 4,000 people to relocate during the Poletown Case to provide General Motors with property. These people were promised 6,000 new jobs, which were never fulfilled (Source C). What economic growth is being promoted by their homes and jobs being replaced by an automotive company? The answer is none. The government claims that eminent domain is needed for economic development, but the main motive behind it is money. Another negative factor if eminent domain is the unfulfilled promise of the government giving private property owners the proper compensation for their land. Many times, the government has cheated private property owners out of the compensation that’s supposed to be the fair market value or the property, as stated in the Constitution (Source A). In one particular case. the property owner fought back. Richard Stebelton was offered $9,249 for a 1-Mile strip of his property by Canal Winchester, which was really valued at $595,625 (Source F). Imagine if Stebelton never followed his intuition and challenged Sinchester in court. The income he received would’ve negatively impacted Stebelton and caused his revenue to go down. In addition, eminent domain has caused over hundreds of families to be forced out of their homes. For example, a plant by the name of Pfizer moved to a town in Connecticut a sort of a plan for revitalizing New London —a city in Connecticut. Pfizer felt they could not operate “surrounded by tenements,” so the New London Development Corporation drove homeowners out using eminent domain. After around 5 years, Pfizer abandoned the plant and all New London was after that was “a vast, empty field-90 acres” (Source B). Do you believe this was the first time property that was bought out by big businesses that eventually declined? There are families that are relocated and become subject to worst conditions than they may have been facing before. For what? The greed of big businesses and the government. In conclusion, eminent domain is a big factor to economic decline. It increases unemployment, injustice to private property owners, and pushes families out of their homes.