Artifact 2 

Banner created by my former ENGL 1102 Student, Kelly Lin, of the LMC Program at Georgia Tech

“at its base, forged in concrete, a narrative”

--Natasha Trethewey, from “Meditation at Decatur Square”

“A monument is made at a particular point in time and is conceived and constructed by a group of people with specific intentions and ideas.”

--Adam Hjorthén

What have we learned?

We have learned that every human creation may be read as a rhetorical performance. Directly or indirectly, they seek to ‘persuade’ of an idea, history, or story using various means of persuasion or ‘appeals’ through the features of its content and presentation. Thus, we can ‘read’ any human ‘text’ through a careful analysis of the manifest content, the features, presented to us, the critical rhetorician. We have also learned that there are multiple means to communicate ideas, concepts, and arguments beyond the Written work of essays or papers. 

Goals, Learning Outcomes, and WOVEN

Why Are We Doing This?

Monuments are not merely structures; they are reflections of the socio-cultural, historical, and sometimes scientific contexts in which they were erected. Many monuments also incorporate advanced engineering techniques, architectural innovations, and scientific principles that were cutting-edge in their respective time periods. By exploring these structures, you'll discover how scientific and technological advancements intertwine with cultural, artistic, and historical developments.

Additionally but not secondarily, monuments are deeply embedded in cultural contexts, representing the identity and values of a society or group, especially those who, at the time of their creation, retained a high degree of political, social, and real capital. By studying them, you gain a deeper understanding of the places where you live, work, or travel, and how those with power often see or imagine themselves. This connection to the sense of place attunes you to the historical and cultural fabric of the environments in which you find yourself. 

This awareness can inspire a greater sense of responsibility towards sustainable practices and ethical considerations in your pursuits. The analysis of monuments, then, complements and enriches your education by providing a broader understanding of the interconnectedness of science, technology, culture, history, and politics. It equips you with a well-rounded perspective that can enhance your problem-solving skills, foster interdisciplinary connections, and contribute to your development as a socially responsible professional, while not merely consuming places "at face value" but as objects of critical analysis.

Grading

This unit accounts for 25% of your final grade in this class. Of that grade:

8% is tied to Journal Assignments

20% is tied to Class Participation

• 10% is for Peer Review (33.33% to your submission, 66.67% to your assessments of peers)

• 10% is for active involvement in in-class activities ("Artifact 2 Unit Class Participation" Assignment)

7% is tied to Selecting a Monument via "Artifact 2 Monument Approval"

15% is tied to "Artifact 2 Monument Reflections."

50% is tied to the Final Infographic

Appendix

Features of Monumental Architecture

Subject

What is being explicitly depicted, celebrated, or memorialized by the monument. Often, this may include an individual, a handful of individuals, groups, or it may also be a more indirect reflection on the values of the community itself. 

Who or what is being explicitly depicted in this monument or memorial? What specific parts of their personality, contributions, experiences, or roles are being discussed? 

For example, the subject of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in DC is pretty obviously Vietnam Veterans, specifically from the United States. The remaining features are meant to tell us more about how to interpret this subject. Or, the subject may be indirect. For example, the statue of Athena in Athens, Georgia is not specifically to commemorate Athena the goddess, but instead to reflect the values of the community of Athens, Georgia. 

Location

The placement of a monument. Where a monument is placed not only helps emphasize the location of an important event or person but also reflects back on the values of the community.

Where is the monument? Is there significance in it being placed where it is placed and why?

For example, a monument placed at an important intersection in the middle of town or at the town square or city hall indicates that this person’s story, this event, or this specific group of people is meant to be seen as influential to the culture or history of the community itself. It also indirectly indicates whose stories and histories are privileged. 

Design

This term emphasizes the big-picture design of the monument or memorial. Usually, we look at larger shapes, orientations, positions, or architectural designs to determine something of a broader cultural reference, the importance of the figure or event memorialized, or ways onlookers should 'experience' the space. 

How is it constructed or organized? How big is it? What’s the overall shape of the structure?  

Here, we can look at the use (or lack thereof) of things like plinths, water features, allowed seating areas or steps. For example, a statue of a person on a plinth literally and figuratively elevates the subject above the viewer, indicating importance. They are a person you should strive to be like. Or, it could be like the Vietnam War Memorial in DC, whose design elements (no ostentatious elements, built downwards into a hill, reflective stone) evokes a sense not of victory but of somberness, wounding, and reflection, respectively.

Inscriptions 

What is literally written on the monument or nearby. Inscriptions are used to emphasize the main take-aways of the monument, who it is for, and who built it. Sometimes it tells us why it has been built and how we as onlookers should perceive the subject depicted. 

How does written phrasing influence our perception of the subjects depicted in the monument or encourage certain understandings of its subject?

Monuments usually don’t have much in terms of written language. However, language is used to polish or sharpen the intended meaning of other elements. The Confederate monument in Athens, GA, has an inscription that reads, in part, “These Heroes … In the fatal issues of battle, reached the consummation of Earthly Glory by their Death [the] Last and Holiest Office of Human Fidelity possible to Brave Men.” The use of the phrase, “reached the consummation of Earthly Glory” in their “fatal” experiences in “battle,” indicates that we should understand their death not merely as soldiers but as martyrs. In this case, they are martyrs of the cause of “the Rights of States” as indicated on another part of the same inscription. I discuss context below, but you should probably indicate to your reader that this is a postbellum historical revision by neo-Confederates trying to whitewash the Confederacy’s true aims and goals. In the words of its Vice President, Alexander Stephens, in a speech in 1861, claimed, “Our new government ... its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.” Nowhere does he mention states’ rights as a motivating factor in secession.

Symbols

Symbols are "a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract."

What are the symbolic elements? How are flowers, flags, guns, swords, crosses, stars, or any item meant to inform our connection to the subject matter?

Consider how you might relate specific elements between different monuments depicting similar subjects. In a lot of military monuments, there are swords that help emphasize the focus on the subject’s martial relationships, but not necessarily any other factors about them. Or, on gravestones, there might be certain flowers. Find out what symbolic history exists with those flowers to draw out the intended references. Perhaps the use of Cherokee Rose is meant to suggest the dead person’s ties to Georgia?

Imagery

The collection or relationship between visual images or symbols that, taken together cohere into a single or several messages or depictions of events. 

Look at things like friezes, the layout and depiction of the subject. How are these used (especially in design) to point towards a central ‘narrative’?

Think about friezes especially as a kind of comic. As in comics, which are a series of images indicating a progression of story or plot, so too do friezes act as comics, just without gutters (maybe). Try to describe the events being depicted and how that depiction leads us to certain conclusions about the event. For example, this image from the relief within the Arch of Titus in Rome, depicts Titus as a triumphant victor after his sacking of Jerusalem. Titus is depicted atop a magnificently decorated chariot with four war-horses, and an angel behind him, seeming to bless him. Who that angel is, I’m not sure, but I would imagine this indicates something divine, given that she has wings. Her positive relation to Titus, holding her hand above his head, suggests that the gods are impressed or are giving approval to this conquest.

Context

WOVENText discusses the importance of rhetorical context to a given work. So, how does the context of the monument’s creation influence ways in which we interpret the monument itself? What was the historical moment in which the monument was constructed? Who commissioned it? Who paid for it? That can give us clearer insight into its message. 

For example, think about the Athens Confederate Monument. It was built in 1872, after the failure of Reconstruction and in the midst of a (still ongoing) cultural movement called the Lost Cause. This political-cultural movement attempted to reframe the Civil War in various modes: a war of Northern aggression and Northern jealousy, a war of states’ rights, a war of self-defense, a war between brothers, etc. All of these impressions are either oversimplifications or outright fabrications that serve to occlude the material reality of slavery that informed the Confederate insurrection. In this way, they could present the Old South and the Confederacy (and those still living who were influential in this insurgent and racist attempt to secede) as ‘not the baddies’ and even in some cases as the unfairly misunderstood good guys. 

Consider Context with the discussion on Inscriptions above. How does the Lost Cause sentiment emerge in the poem on the Athens Confederate Monument? How does calling them, in short, martyrs, fit in with this historical movement? How do they minimize or omit slavery and how is that influential to our understanding of this text? 

Elements of Visual Rhetoric

Emphasis: "In speech or writing, emphasis means stressing a word or a group of words to give it more importance. In visual texts, it means the same thing; emphasis gives certain elements greater importance, significance, or stress than other elements in the text, which can guide your reading of the text as a whole. When analyzing an image for emphasis, we pay attention to what we notice first and then ask ourselves why" (66).

Contrast: "Contrast is the difference between elements, where the combination of those elements makes one element stand out from another. Contrast can be determined by comparing elements in a text. Color, size, placement, shape, and content can all be used to create contrast in a text. Contrast plays a large role in emphasis, in that the most contrasted element often appears to be the most emphasized" (66). 

Color: "Color can be extremely helpful when determining emphasis in a visual text. Visual emphasis can be accorded to how bold or large, or how much black compared to the white or gray background, is used. Although color theory indicates that different cultures interpret colors differently around the world, warm colors are usually read as more emotionally intense—think fire, sun, and summer—and are used to elicit emotional reactions in audiences. Cool colors are usually read as calming and are used to create less emphasis than warm colors in a visual composition" (68). 

Organization: "Organization is the way in which elements are arranged to form a coherent unit or functioning whole" (69).

Alignment: "Alignment literally means how things line up. A composition that uses alignment to best effect controls how our eyes move across a text. Even if we’re working with a text that is all words, every piece of it should be deliberately placed. A centered alignment—an easy and popular choice—causes our eyes to move around the space with less determination, as we move from the end of one line and search for the beginning of the next one. A justified alignment stretches the content so that it is evenly distributed across a row; thus the left and right margins remain consistent. This is a popular choice for newspapers because it can make a large amount of text appear neat and orderly. A strong left alignment gives us something to follow visually—even elements that contrast in size can demonstrate coherence through a single alignment. A strong right alignment creates a hard edge that connects disparate elements. Grouping things in a clear and interesting way can be useful" (69).

Proximity: "Proximity means closeness in space. In a visual text, it refers to how close elements (or groupings of elements) are placed in proximity to each other and what relationships are built as a result of that spacing. The relationships created by the spacing between elements help readers understand the text, in part because readers might already be familiar with similar designs of other texts. Proximity can apply to any kind of element in a visual text, including words and images.... Analyzing proximity in a text means thinking about how elements are grouped together, where they are placed on the page or screen in relation to one another, and how placement suggests purpose. One way to figure out how elements are grouped together into like categories or relationships is to squint your eyes and count how many major groups you see" (70).