Washington, DC is a spectacular place. It was my first time in Washington DC, I was in awe of everything and all the historical places I encountered. The presence of monuments and history is what makes the capital so magnificent. Having only read about the Lincoln Memorial, I never had the chance to experience the sensation of being inside such an honorable and important place. The imposing white marble walls of the memorial and the many people surrounding it were visible from afar. When I arrived at the scene, a feeling of the unknown came over me. I was experiencing the story on a whole new level. When I think of a memorial, the term remembrance comes to mind. Seeing the Abraham Lincoln statue brought back memories of history class and evoked what it might have been like to be in his place. I was amazed by the immensity of the statue and the grandeur of Abraham Lincoln in his chair. The size of the statue, compared to images from books and elsewhere, was surreal. Abraham Lincoln was a "very powerful and prominent individual" in our nation's history, as reflected in the design and size of the statue. Looking around, I wanted to know what other people thought when they saw his statue and how they felt in this building. I finally got up the courage to ask one or two people what they thought; they all had the same assessment as me. Hearing about an important person or learning about them in a history book gives you a wealth of knowledge, but it doesn't evoke the feeling of total appreciation like the memorial does. When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, many people wanted to build a memorial in his honor. They wanted to be able to show how important he was in shaping our nation and “honoring his existence.” This...... middle of paper ......ting, and "encryption". He never went to school for more than a year in total as a child. He read all the books he could find by borrowing them. He never learned enough to benefit from an education, except reading and writing. He acquired his education through self-taught methods "under the pressure of necessity." He was not an avid reader due to the limitations of the books, but he read as much as he could. Works Cited Boritt, Gabor S. and Matthew Pinsker. “Lincoln, Abraham.” Presidents: a reference story. Ed. Henry F. Graff. 3rd ed. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 209-223. Gale American History in Context. Internet. April 20, 2011 “Biography of Abraham Lincoln.” The Biography Channel website. 2008. March 1, 2009 ‹http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9382540.›Abraham, Lincoln. Biography Channel. [2008.] [April 20.2011 ]