Visual Argument: Propose Your Own Monument or Memorial Project
For this project you will choose a person, an event, or perhaps an idea/concept that you feel is significant and worthy of acknowledgement.   Ultimately you will design a monument /memorial that you feel most appropriately commemorates your subject.  Your design will be an example of a visual argument and you will need to explain the choices made in your design.  Site choice will be an important part of your design and need to be discussed as well.  In the end you will share your proposal with the class in a multimedia presentation that outlines your monument and explains the choices in design and placement.  However, before presenting you’ll need to complete several preliminary tasks :
1.      Discuss Maya Lin’s essay “Making the Monument”
Maya Lin’s essay gives us a thoughtful reflection on her process of designing the Vietnam Memorial in Washington.  From her essay we understand some of the complex factors involved in designing a public memorial.
2.     Choose your topic:
With your group (2 or 3 members)--or individually--brainstorm a topic.  Next answer the following questions:
1.       Whom or what are you commemorating?
2.      Why is this a worthwhile topic?
3.      Who will be the primary audience of your proposal? (Who will fund it?)
4.      Who will be the audience for your monument?
5.      What is a logical location for this monument?  Why?
6.      What issues or controversies can you foresee because of this monument?
7.       How will you address opposing views?
3.     Research your topic:
In order to successfully champion your monument you must be an authority on the subject being commemorated.  In order to add to your knowledge, find outside sources that you can use as references regarding your subject.  Each member of your group needs to bring in a printed copy of an outside source and provide proper citation to include in your final proposal.  Collaboratively you must create one document that includes an accurate citation for each source and a brief abstract of the source as it pertains to your proposal.  Your research should seek to answer some of the following questions:
1.       What evidence can you present to show that this is a worthwhile topic to commemorate? Consider logical, ethical, and emotional appeals of the information that you are gathering for your audience.
2.      Who might oppose it?  Why?  What message (counterargument) would the opposition present?
3.      What evidence can you provide to the opposition in order to persuade them that your memorial is valuable?
 
4.     Design the Monument
Now, your group needs to decide on the visual representation that will match the claims you are making with your monument.  Consider rhetorical strategies that translate visually to support your claims (juxtaposition, scale, contrast, etc).  The best projects will be innovative and moving. 
How will the elements of the design create meaning about the person or event that you are commemorating?  How should the physical form of the monument appear, based on audience and theme?  (Here’s where you need to consider all the logistical aspects of your design—size, materials, orientation, etc)   Discuss and develop aesthetic concepts, paying special attention to whether the design is representational or abstract. 
What specific site do you plan to use, and why? Consider environmental issues.  Also consider the way public will encounter your design—is it meant for people to experience through participation, or is it more of an observational or viewing space?
Your initial design should start with an accurate sketch representing your monument and site.
5.     Organize and Create your Proposal
Your proposal with be two-fold:
1.       The first part of your proposal will be a business letter directed to the audience you think would most likely fund your proposal.  Your letter must be persuasive and show a keen awareness of audience.  A typed copy will be turned in to me.	
2.      The second part of your proposal will be a 5-8 min presentation in front of the class.  You have a few options for the format: a slideshow/prezi or a video.  Either way, your presentation must give an outline of the reasons you feel your subject is worthy of commemorating.  You must also address obstacles you foresee in the project.  Your presentation must include a finalized visual of your monument and a google earth image of the site you are proposing.  I would recommend a visual that shows an overlay of your monument on the site if possible.  If you are tactile and prefer a hands on approach you can alternately present using a 3-dimensional model and/or posters to represent your proposed monument.