The American National Mall
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Introduction
America’s National Mall has been rated as the most visited national park. The park’s memorials and monuments honor the forefathers and heroes of America for their ultimate sacrifice in the country’s service. This paper will examine the author’s primary argument, explain the four components of Goodman’s methodology, explain what the author means by increasing tendency in America toward memorializing spaces, explain one national mall plan, and summarize George Mason, World war II.
The author’s primary argument is based on the national mall as the product of the three significant periods of planning and development. The author articulates that the mall is a cohesively built environment with a potential meaning for reflexive and prescriptive implications for America’s national identity. The author also points out that today’s mall is capable of hosting around 23 million visitors yearly. The mall is also described by a collection of memorials and monuments that commemorate vital individuals and events.
Goodman man employed the following four methodology components in his analysis approach. The first component is Donation, which occurs through description, exposition, naming, or even prediction. Also, denotation may be done through pictorial and portrayal representation. Besides, labeling, symbol application of any kind may be included in denotation. Thus, the national mall, depicted as a map describing a place, would symbolize this specific space. The second methodology component is exemplification. Exemplification emphasizes certain properties and neglects the rest, and it indicates the purpose and significance of the analysis. The third component is an expression where, under this component, built space expresses referential meaning via mediation. Finally, the fourth component is mediation, where Goodman suggests any design used in a building may happen to stand for some of its causes of effects, or even for its selected use.
The author points out the need to increase the American tendency towards memorializing space. The term memorializing space means obsessed with issues related to history and memory and a quick desire to claim or express those issues in a public context. In America, the concept of memorializing space presupposes consensus over what or who ought to be remembered. If such a consensus is not present, then a state is subject to commemorate everything and have a memory of everyone.
L’ Enfant plan was one of the national mall development plans. The author articulates that the plan was employed by George Washington, president, in developing an urban plan for Washington, DC. The plan of L’Enfant resembled those of royal estates and capitals of Europe. Besides, L’Enfant was provided with plans on the large and actual scale of Paris, Orleans, Strasbourg, and other cities in Europe by Jefferson. The plan also ordered around wide avenues compressing state government’s rational ordering and unadulterated separation of power, which was planned by its framers. Through the L’Enfant plan design, Washington was said to have become a blueprint for America’s governance. However, although the L’Enfant plan laid a foundation for the National Mall, it did not manage to immediately lead to a grand public park.
The location of George Mason Memorial is in West Potomac Park. The memorial offers the important founding fathers felt contributions who wrote the declaration of Virginia rights and attended the Constitutional Convention. Besides, the World War II memorial denotes labels that portray rectitude and determination. The freedom walls honor the lost lives, and gold stars represented their names. Finally, the MLK memorial denotes his leadership. Also, it illustrates his struggle for the civil rights of African Americans.
References
Evans, Jocelyn J., and Kyrsten B. York. “How the Mall Means: An Analysis of the National Mall as a Cohesively Built Environment.” Perspectives on Political Science 42, no. 3 (JulySeptember, 2013): 117-130.