Memorial Ball Knowledge



I never realized how much went behind memorials until I gained so much ball knowledge about them from class this week. Growing up whenever I traveled to many of these popular memorials, I always understood the purpose of mourning those who lost their lives or honoring important people. However, I never understood all the factors that go into creating those emotions. The environment, colors, materials and symbols all go so far in increasing the depth of the memorial. Seeing all these factors that the designer has to think of often creates multiple meanings and ways for people who are mourning to grieve and have a way to express their emotions. Through my research on the Hiroshima memorial in Hiroshima, Japan for the victims of the atomic bomb, I was able to gain a new perspective that a simple memorial does not mean a simple meaning. The memorial set up the viewer to view everything in a perspective that encapsulates the meaning of the memorial with minimal words. With one line about the mourning of those who lost their lives, the viewer is able to look through the monument, see a fire that can be seen as a symbol of the destruction, and the only building near the bomb that survived the bombing. The building is a visual representation that the site is not only to mourn the lost ones, but to remember them and stay resilient. With the other quote using the fire as a sign of improving yourself and looking upon who you yourself are. Bringing in the idea that it’s up to each individual person, and you need to take in the fire as a new light in your life to become a better person. When I first looked at the monument I thought it was too simple like a lot of people, but so much went in to evoke the thoughts and emotion the architect was going for. With this new 11 ap lang ball knowledge I understand and appreciate memorials for their meaning and parts as a whole much more than before.


Comments

  1. Paul LeiSeptember 7, 2025 at 9:41 AM

    I liked the way you connected the postcards with the theory that memory is created on the basis of what people wish to communicate. I did not know that by leaving out some of the things(like the horror of war) one is still reporting history. Your memorial example is a good representation of how such a simple thing can have so much meaning.

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  2. Abhinav JainSeptember 7, 2025 at 10:07 AM

    I liked how you mentioned that your perspective on these memorials have changed since taking AP lang. It is important that over time we learn and change our perspectives so that we grow, and you did a great job of expressing this idea in your blog. I liked the subtle humor in your blog because it made the content even more enjoyable to read.

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  3. KevinSeptember 7, 2025 at 5:51 PM

    i liked how you showed your personal growth through researching memorials and throughout the AP lang class. i liked how you explained how multiple factors can increase a meaning of a memorial using the hiroshima memorial as your example. In the end i like how you tied the visual representation of the memorial to a more personal level.

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