Architect and ____ 1 ____ Maya Lin stands only 5 feet 3 inches tall. But when it comes to monument-making, Lin is a giant among designers. Lin has built some of the most famous monuments in the United States. She designed the Civil Rights Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Lin's simple designs are not overwhelming. Like her, they do not tower over people or ____ 2 ____ them. Instead, they make people pause and reflect. They also draw out emotions.

Sometimes, Lin's designs go even further. The Vietnam Memorial, her greatest work, moved an entire country from anger and confusion about a war to tears. But most importantly, the memorial helped the country remember and honor its forgotten heroes. It also helped the country overcome its grief.

The Wall

Lin was a Yale University senior when she won an open competition to design the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was to be located at the Constitutional Gardens in Washington, D.C. She beat out 1,420 other entrants in the much publicized design competition.

Her winning entry was a series of ____ 3 ____ sketches. It took two weeks to draw after months of study. She walked around the Mall and Constitution Gardens, and studied every detail. 

Lin designed two black granite walls joined at the center in a 130-degree angle. The names of the known 58,175 soldiers who died in the war would be ____ 4 ____ in the wall.

Lin knew that the relatives of the dead soldiers had gone through a difficult time. How were all these people going to overcome the pain of losing someone? How do you really overcome death? Lin asked herself. That's when she decided to include the names of the men and women who had died. She knew that all Americans should never forget the war.

"If you just keep pretending that nothing happened [in Vietnam]," she said, "if you didn't really accept that death or time or trouble, then you'd never get over it. The only way you can work with history and the only way you can overcome anything is to accept it very, very honestly."

A Controversial Design

In the spring of 1981, Lin's design was introduced to the public. Immediately, the design sparked a controversy that threatened its very existence.

Many people did not like "The Wall," as it became known among Vietnam veterans. Despite the controversy, Lin stood by her design. So did Jan Scruggs. He was the Vietnam veteran whose lobbying efforts brought the memorial into being. He had this to say about Lin: "She has an artistic ____ 5 ____, and she really stood by her guns to make sure that this memorial design was not tampered with. And it was very important that she did that, because throughout the entire controversy that surrounded the memorial, she really believed in this design. She really knew it was going to work. . . . The strength of her own ____ 6 ____ carried us through quite a few conflicts." 

The Wall was finally built. Overnight, public attitude changed. Suddenly, the nation had a memorial it could see and touch. Suddenly, all the known ____ 7 ____ of the war were there, together, in one special place, facing us. They were gone—but not forgotten. The memorial forced Americans to deal with the pent-up emotions about the war. It eased anger. But most of all, it invited everyone to ____ 8 ____ for the fallen heroes. 

People came to the memorial to see the names of their fallen loved ones. Some even scratched the names onto pieces of paper to take home with them. This activity has now turned into a national tradition. Today, the Wall is the most visited memorial in the United States. 

Which sentence best tells why it was surprising that Maya Lin won the competition to design the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial?

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is described in the selection. What is considered the most noteworthy thing about it?