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Valentina Gonzalez

Professor Erin Ashley Mink Garvey

Composition & Rhetoric IWRD 103 Section 415November 15, 2012

Little Village: Mexico of the Midwest

My discourse community is the neighborhood that I know better than the back of my hand. Little

Village is a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood in the Southwest side of Chicago and it is

the place that I call home. I find beauty and culture in Little Village, while the majority of others consider

it an ugly, dangerous, gang infested neighborhood. Nonetheless, Little Village has much more potential

and holds a different kind of beauty. The distinct differences from other neighborhoods, like the strong

sense of Mexican culture, set it apart and make it exceptionally fascinating and nonpareil. For these

reasons, a Prezi presentation would appropriately demonstrate the scenic aspects of Little Village.

A Prezi presentation would be suitable to emphasize Little Villages magnificence because the

website allows me to illustrate a process. The specific process that I wish to stress is one that

demonstrates the negative aspects and eventually leads to the positive aspects of Little Village. It is a bad

to good process. My overall aim is to present my audience with a reel of emotions. They should feel

worrisome and anxious when presented with cases of gang violence, but by the end of the presentation,

they should feel accepting and have a change of heart. Overall, my audience should be more open-minded

about the neighborhood.

Beginning the presentation with the negative aspects of Little Village stresses many peoples

presumptions of the neighborhood; nevertheless, introducing the beautiful and great aspects of it makes

them reconsider their opinions. This was a crucial rhetorical decision because my aim is to gradually

convince my audience that Little Village is a great neighborhood, aside from the gang violence. This

essentially appeals to ethos for the fact that I completely support my claim. For instance, if I only exposed

the positive aspects of the neighborhood, I would be ignoringpeoples perceptions of the neighborhood. I

would also be unreliable because I would be biased to only stress my opinion. However, by including the


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negative aspects of La Villita, I acknowledge both sides of the case. For that reason, I included the video

of Aliyah Shell. The video demonstrates how deeply the community was affected by the loss of a child.

The video instills a great sense of sadness and disgust because an innocent life was taken due to gang

violence.

Additionally, Prezi allowed me to demonstrate a clear process through the size of each slide. In

most cases, as the slides progressed, they became larger. The slides were positioned in a line, so the last

slide compared to the first slide was considerably larger. This stresses how the positive aspects of Little

Village out-weigh the smaller issues of the neighborhood. Also, the larger slides expose some of the

things that people overlook or do not take into account when they think of Little Village. Most people

judge the neighborhood solely on the negative aspects of the community and they do not consider the

murals that bring upon togetherness or the authentic Mexican food that creates a homely feel in Little

Village. Each great aspect of Little Village emphasizes the great sense of community and motivation for

improvement within all the residents.

On another note, I also decided to include the programs that are found in Little Village because

they demonstrate how hard-working and motivated the community is. These programs, such as Enlace

Chicago, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Latinos Progresando, and many others,

express a very important aspect of my discourse community. As previously mentioned, gang violence is

nothing new to the community, and because of this, Little Village is deprived of outstanding education,

safety, and other necessities. The programs are such a fundamental part of the community because they

demonstrate the residents desire for an even betterenvironment. It also demonstrates their commitment

to the community and what many residents spend their time doing, like myself. Furthermore, these

programs are unique to a neighborhood like Little Village because not all Chicago neighborhoods are in

the same circumstances. For example, Tinley Park might not have any programs focused on the

environmental issues caused by power plants or for gang prevention.


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Moreover, Prezi gave me the freedom to visually appeal to my audience. For example, the colors

of my presentation are red and green. Red is the color of the background while green is the color of each

slide outline. Both green and red are colors of the Mexican flag and because at least eighty-three percent

of residents in Little Village are Mexican-American, they represent the neighborhood. This appeals to

pathos because it demonstrates how proud the residents of Little Village are of their culture. It also

enhances a sense of community because the cultural similarity is what brings the community together.

The fact that the majority of the residents in Little Village are Mexican forms camaraderie. Businesses,

street vendors, and restaurants are mostly Mexican and therefore, help form bonds. This is seen through a

video on street vendors that is included in my presentation. The street vendors become a common aspect

of the community and we rely on them for our delicious snacks, even in the cold of winter.

Also, I was able to visually appeal to the audience because I used plenty of images. The images

themselves reveal another positive aspect of the community because they instill a sense of togetherness.

The images and videos also help the audience feel as if they actually know the neighborhood. The

audience gains a sense of familiarity from the videos of the tour, street vendors and interviews about the

Crawford Power Plant. The videos essentially demonstrate the urban, Mexican culture while illustrating

the type of environment in La Villita. Those were my main reasons for including the videos. For instance,

the videos of the street vendors and LVEJO were noisy from traffic and people talking. This is an

important aspect of my discourse community because it is part of what makes the neighborhood unique.

Unlike suburbs, which are very quiet, Little Village is loud, even through their art. Murals are found

everywhere in Little Village which is also a unique aspect of the discourse community. For instance,

murals would not be found in Orland Park or other suburbs of Chicago. Murals are not found everywhere.

Additionally, because I was in some of the images, I was able to appeal to ethos. My credibility

was enhanced because the images demonstrate how I am specifically part of my discourse community. It

also expresses how knowledgeable I am of Little Villages programs, like Beyond the Ball and Gary

School summer camp. Furthermore, Prezi allowed me to resize, slant and overlap images. This was


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especially important for my first slide because I was able to make the picture of Little Village larger and

overlap it over the picture of the violent gang. This appeals to pathos because the beauty, opposed to

danger, is emphasized and given more importance.

Furthermore, language is an important aspect of the presentation because slides that include Little

Villages positive aspects are titled in Spanish. Using the Spanish language stresses the importance of the

Mexican culture in Little Village. For instance, the majority of people in the community speak Spanglish.

Spanglish is a mix of Spanish and English, meaning that when one is speaking English, a couple of

Spanish words may slip out or vice versa. This demonstrates both the communitys adaption to the United

States and their attempt to preserve the Mexican culture.

Additionally, language is a great part of the discourse community because not everyone knows or

understands Spanish. The Spanish language distinguishes Little Village. For example, in other Chicago

neighborhoods, people may speak Polish, German, or Italian. The language in a way brings the

community together. It is even seen through the images of some businesses. Signs that are in Spanish

illustrate what most residents have in common. Language appeals to pathos because it reveals how

important it is for members of the Little Village community to preserve and be proud of their culture,

even when they live in America. Also, for many, the Spanish language is a beautiful reminder of Mexico.

Overall, I chose to make a Prezi presentation because I was able to prove my claim using writing,

images and videos. It allowed me to prove my claim in a creative and effective manner. I demonstrated

the downfalls of the neighborhood but also emphasized how beautiful, important and cultural it is.


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Bibliography

"Enlace Chicago."Enlace Chicago. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. .

"Little Village Chamber of Commerce."Little Village Chamber of Commerce RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 17

Nov. 2012. .

"Lvcdc.org." What Is Community Development?, Community Organizations and Programs. N.p., n.d.

Web. 17 Nov. 2012. .

"Our Story."Latinos Progresando Our Story Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

.

"Welcome to LVEJO On-line."Little Village Environmental Justice Organization RSS. N.p., n.d. Web.

17 Nov. 2012. .

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