Emily Stewart- D.C. Trip

Reflecting on our trip to D.C.,  the Vietnam Memorial, the WWII Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial stand out to me because I was interested in seeing these sites with the new perspectives I had on them from this class. The Hass book and my peers' presentations gave me new information and ideas, and the physical experience allowed me to understand those ideas more fully. Approaching the Vietnam Memorial with Hass's perspective in mind, I found that her analysis of its impact held true. The way it gradually leads the visitor into and out of the experience was elegant, and it was interesting to see some of the offerings that Hass discusses in person, witnessing that grieving process. The WWII Memorial was interesting because we were there on VE Day, and we saw how the meaning of that space may be transformed for a day by the presence of a ceremony honoring veterans. I found that my classmate was very right about the confusing nature of the Korean War Memorial, and as she pointed out, the styles of design seemed cramped and conflicting. From experiencing it in person, however, I gained the added feeling that the different elements were conflicting in tone as well as style, with the soldier sculptures being very active, putting one in the place of a veteran, and the wall encouraging quiet reflection on loss.

In addition to these experiences, I find it interesting to reflect back on the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in light of Tuesday's presentation on the first of these. As my classmate pointed out, the Washington Monument has very little to do with Washington and very much to do with national pride. Both this monument and the Lincoln Memorial struck me with a certain feeling of ostentatiousness that I hadn't felt at these places before. The tremendous scale of both is a clear display of power and wealth, and the idea of constructing such imperially derived symbols in the U.S. struck me as somewhat odd. Overall, I found that visiting these sites with the new lenses of interpretation I have gathered from this class was a richer experience than I had had there before.