Nanjing: Memorial Plans

The main purpose to build a memorial like this is to dedicate the lives that were lost in
the city of Nanking. Plans of this memorial will show a appearance of a white, non-humanlike
blob. This figure, not only will it represent the Chinese people and how they were connected
together as one, but also how they were cast into chaos when their military deserted the city
leaving them defenseless. The white gives the symbol of innocents, and that is what the victims
were during this holocaust. As you walk towards our monument, black bars surround the object
representing the hatred that surrounded them. Running water rinsing over the monument has the
symbol of drowning and how helpless the people were as the Japanese arrived. Black is the color
of death, and as the Japanese enclosed on the people, death spread through the town like an
uncontrollable fire. When these symbols come together into one monument, you can see the big
picture and this horrid part of history with the visual representation.
Materials that would be used for a life size memorial would be smooth black stone for the
bars surrounding by white stone amorphic center. Water pipes will flow water up and out of the
black stone and create the fountain. Dimensions for the entire monument would be 12 feet in
diameter and 17 feet in height. The base of the fountain would also be white stone, and the
surrounding sidewalk would be concrete. Materials for the actual project would be made of clay
to form the blob and shape bars. We would make the bars by forming the clay to a bowl, then
cook or dry the clay. For the surrounding of the land around the monument out of paper mache
and use pipe cleaners as details such as trees and bushes.
The location of this memorial would be placed in California. It has many tourists so it
would more likely be kept clean there and seen by many. Also, California is where Iris Chang,
author of the Rape of Nanking, had committed suicide after depression from the massacre. Since

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there is memorial of this massacre already in China, it seems appropriate to place it in one of the
most populated places in America for people to come and remember the inhumane mistake the
Japanese made.

Part 3 (30 points)

Memorial Design Plan
Description and/or sketch or your memorial
a.

The plan is clearly explained.

b.

The plan is presented in MLA format.

c.

Any sketches, diagrams, or visual plans are clearly labeled.

Materials needed
a.

What materials do you need?

b.

What quantities? Be specific.

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c.

How will you obtain these materials?

Location
a.

Where you would expect this memorial to be displayed?

b.

Why did you select that particular location?

The plan is turned in on time. (Paper copy in MLA manuscript form 1st period Monday, April 27 in
class, 2nd period Tuesday, April 28, 3rd period, Wednesday, April 29)
Part 4 (30 points)
Curator Statement
Content: This is a 1-2 page statement that will accompany your memorial. It must be written for the
memorial viewer who knows little to nothing about your genocide case study/theme. You are
expected to include:
a.

Historical context

b.

What can we learn about choices big and small from this memorial?

c.

Why did you, as the memorial designers, make the visual choices that you did?

d.

What do the memorials components represent?

Mechanics:
a.

The statement is written in MLA manuscript form with no errors.

b.

The statement is between 1-2 pages in manuscript form.

c.

The statement meets the standards of written English.

d.

No grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors

e.

All paragraphs include introductory and concluding sentences, explanations, and

details
The statement is turned in on time. (Beginning of class on April 30).