Short Essay
600-750 words without bibliography
Blitz/Firefighters’ Memorial, Old Change Court opposite St Paul’s Cathedral, EC4
Approaching your assignment
For this short essay, you are asked to go and view a war monument different from those we viewed in class. You are asked to write about the monument and consider the artistic choices that the designer/artist made. The majority are from the First World War but I have included some that are particularly interesting from the Second World War. Some were built to commemorate victims of the First World War and then were modified to cover the Second World War too. You should begin by considering the history of monument and what is commemorates. Then discuss the monument including its location, what materials were used to make it, what size it is and what sort of style it was made in. Is it figurative or abstract? Realist or Idealised? Is it true to the real experiences of war or has an allegory been used? What sort of imagery does it use? What text is included? Consider different reactions to the monument both at the time it was made and now. As this is a reflective piece, you can include your own opinions and these can be written in the first person.