RHETORIC OF

MUSEUMS
Dr. Will Kurlinkus, Memory Studies
 1. In tro d u c ti o n : M ini a r g ument d emons tra tion +
c lea r thes is , q ues tions , a nd s ig np os ting

2. Li t Revi ew /Meth o d : Who els e ha s d is c us s ed this

topic , wha t ʼs your memor y / theor y foc us ? Why

Key Writing c hoos e this foc us ? Why c hoos e thes e tex ts a nd

not other s to a na ly ze? Wher e d id you f ind them?

3. An a l ysi s : Pr oc eed s by C omp lic a tion, d r iven by

Moves: The p r ima r y ex a mp les , us es s ec ond a r y ter ms a nd
theor ies ( a ka quotes ) to join a c onver s a tion.

Main Parts 4. C o n c l u si o n : Ref lec ts on your key c ontr ib ution to

r es ea r c h, w hy it ma tter s s ta tement, q uic kly
s umma r izes , s ug g es ts new a r ea s mov ing for wa r d
 I n t h i s e s s a y, I l o o k a t t h e c o m p l e x r o l e o f m a t e r i a l i t y i n t h e m e a n i n g o f
9/11 and its aftermath, and how the cultural memory of 9/11 is negotiated
through material realms, from voids to exhibitions, from museum objects
to design environments, from human remains to souvenirs. My aim here is
t o f o c u s o n h o w t h e m e m o r i a l a n d m u s e u m ʼs e x h i b i t i o n a n d d e s i g n r e v e a l
how 9/11 is defined through the narrative of material transformation and
absence. The museum is a project of many tensions and contradictions in
its varied roles as a historical museum, a tribute and shrine to the
memory of those who died, a tourist destination, a political and patriotic

Key Writing
nationalist project, and the repository of unidentified remains. My intent
here is not to provide an overview of the museum and the range of
complex issues that it raises (not the least of which is its problematic
presentation of the political meaning of 9/11), but rather to decipher its

Moves:
particular frame of material presence and absence.

1.An introduction starts by showing your argument in context,

essentially a mini demonstration of what the rest of the paper will be

Introduction
about without digging too deep down into analysis.

2.This demonstration should pose a bit of a gap, challenge, or

mystery that causes your reader to want to know more.

3.Then you go into your specific argument: In this essay I will

a r g u e / e x a m i n e … ( g e n e r a l a r g u m e n t a b o u t y o u r c o m m u n i t y ) To d o s o ,
I will specifically look at these particular artifacts… (specific
examples youʼll look at) First I will do this, then this, then this
(signposting your key sections /arguments /frames of analysis̶
preceding by complication)
 On display in the museum, many of these ordinary objects evoke
specialness not simply because they were once mundane but also
because they survived the violent fall of the buildings. In this, we
can see that they fulfill the role of survivor objects, as objects that
p e r s i s t e d t o h a v e a f t e r l i v e s . T h i s q u a l i t y a w a r d s a k i n d o f a g e n c y,

Key Writing p o w e r, i f n o t a n a l i v e n e s s , t o t h e m . T h e y s u r v i v e d w h e n p e o p l e d i d
n o t ; i n a c e r t a i n s e n s e , t h e y a r e o b j e c t s t h a t “ l i v e d .” I n t h i s s e n s e ,
they evoke what Jane Bennett (2010) refers to as “vibrant
matter”̶material objects that challenge the notion that matter is
Moves: inert. Bennett (2010) uses the concept of “thing-power” to define
t h e “s t r a n g e a b i l i t y o f o r d i n a r y, m a n - m a d e i t e m s t o e x c e e d t h e i r
status as objects and to manifest traces of independence or

Engaging aliveness” (p. xvi). One could argue that things that are
transformed through violence offer a particular kind of aliveness
t h r o u g h t h e i r e v o k i n g o f s u r v i va l .

Otherʼs 1. Give your argument, example. These objects were

specially because they survived…

2. Use your secondary author to engage with others have

Research said give a definition: this is an example of what Jane

B e n n e t c a l l v i b r a n t m a t t e r.

3. Re t u r n t o y o u r e x a m p l e : H e r e ʼs h o w t h a t o t h e r a u t h o r s
concept relates to what Iʼm talking about and how my
concept complicates or contributes
Museum Theory

• Buffalo Bill Historical Center Natural Histor y Museum + The National Great
Blacks in Wax Museum
• All museums make arguments through display, selection, organization,
narration, stor y, and space (that is̶how is information organized to make
an argument?)

• Most museums hail patrons into a role: they teach you to view the world in
a cer tain way (” the master naturalist ”) or an inheritor of a legacy.

• What happens when living things are “museumized”? (from taxidermized

animals to indigenous Americans)
NPR “HISTORY IS NOT A TOY”: How do we teach children
about horrifying histor y, memor y, and trauma?

” When they leave shaking, when they leave cr ying…I have

no problem with those tears. It ʼs what people are going to
be talking about years later, is our slave ship and they ʼre
going to be saying, ʻI never forgot your lynching exhibit.ʼ
Ever ything else it seems like a movie. If you donʼ t have a
sense of exactly what people were f ighting against. If you
think that rosa parks that what she did had something to do
with the seat on the bus and you donʼ t understand that that
act was going to get her jailed, it could have gotten her
lynched as well ”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR
SOMETHING TO BE NATURAL?
ACROSS MULTIPLE CONTEXTS
MOVEMENT
ACTING AS AN
AID TO STORY:
UX