Making the Memorial

For someone who had very little knowledge about the Vietnam War memorial, this piece seems like the perfect place to begin. Not only does it talk about exactly what led Lin to create the memorial design, but it also addresses the various hurdles she had to get through in order to have it made. We see Lin's entire journey chronicled through her eyes, something I LOVED. It's always interesting to see things from the creator's point of view, mostly because it's like delving into someone's mind and taking a little peek inside. This piece also stuck out to me mainly because it was so straightforward, something that really made the biggest impact. For example how she argues against her critics so simply and plainly: she states their claim, and provides her reasoning against it. It's so effective because it gets to the point fast. And that's what makes it stick out more. Arguing is never easy. But she makes it seem that way.

"I had a simple impulse to cut into the earth". This is probably my favorite line from the entire piece. It's so strong and powerful, and it literally moves the reader. It's effective mostly because its on its own, in a separate paragraph, multiplying its effect by like a million times. She preludes the sentence by saying "The site was a beautiful park surrounded by trees, with traffic and noise coming from one side-Constitution Avenue". She then creates a separate paragraph for just that one line: "I had a simple impule to cut into the earth". The isolation of this key emotion makes it memorable and powerful: you can feel that almost animalistic impulse, and the sudden shift from a relatively peaceful paragraph to a strong and somewhat violent impulse makes the reader feel the impulse. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I swear I has an impulse to go outside and touch the "earth". It wasn't just what Lin said, but how she said it that had the biggest effect.