[Rhetoric] Uniting People Through Imagery

Hey Folks! It is now time for my final project for Fall Term, and for my Humanities class, Rhetoric. This has been a very quick term, but we've learned a lot. We have been learning about how rhetoric can be used to inspire and unite people to accomplish great things. We have looked towards colonial times and researched how rhetoric has been used to rise up and fight against oppressors. We also have looked towards the modern age with the struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia, and other bigotry. We have tried to tap into how people use rhetoric for this Action Project. For this project, we have been tasked with creating a piece of artwork that could be used to inspire people in our neighborhood about a specific issue that affects us or people in our neighborhood. Here is my project!






    I am a resident of the Bridgeport neighborhood. I live a few blocks away from the Sox park and my family has lived here since 1999. Since my family moved here, the property value has increased in value at a high rate. Now, houses and apartments are far too costly for most people to afford. I decided I wanted my artwork to symbolize that. I chose my topic because as I’ve grown up I’ve seen the neighborhood go from a fairly working-class place to being filled with very upper-class, luxury homes that most people probably can’t afford. I would much prefer to have a more diverse neighborhood as I believe diversity leads to innovation. My artwork’s purpose is to show that the classic American Dream is unreachable now for many people who live in gentrified areas. Human beings are being subjected to homelessness and being forced to migrate to areas far away from what they are used to, simply because they are low-income. Some people might have been living here for decades but be unable to afford it because of the rising property prices. Now they are forced to go elsewhere, potentially to a less safe neighborhood. That’s hardly human. There are thousands of people experiencing homelessness in Chicago. The more the property value rises the more people will be homeless. Property value and inflation rates are increasing rapidly. Inflation was up to 8% this year and has been causing a number of issues in people’s financial lives. Property value hasn’t gone up as much but as you can see by this graph there is an upward trend. 

    I chose to draw my artwork on paper because it is a mockup of what the final design is planned to be. I plan on sizing the artwork both up and down, up for big posters to be hung outside the sox park during games, and smaller to slip under people’s windshield wipers. I believe these are two good ways to spread awareness about this issue and should be quite effective. There are thousands of people that come to baseball games, especially during the middle of a season, so my sign would probably get noticed by many people. People also tend to pay attention to what is on their cars. My biggest goal was to appeal to pathos. The family in the front is meant to not resemble anyone so you can self-insert and imagine yourself there. They are surrounded by a rosy glow to symbolize their dreams, only to be dashed by the closed gates in front of them. The people bypassing the wall using the money are meant to spark anger and resentment to hopefully get people passionate about the issue. This is meant to appeal to lower to middle-class people as most working people can at least somewhat relate to feeling cheated by the upper class in some way. Ideally, people see this and react intensely and urgently so as to solve the issue. In conclusion, my art piece symbolizes the lower class people being oppressed and treated unfairly to the point of life-changing cruelty and should hopefully spark rage and change.

Sources:


burke@thenightministry.org. “Homeless Count in Chicago May Have Dropped, but Are More People Exiting Homelessness?” The Night Ministry, The Night Ministry, Oct. 2021, www.thenightministry.org/blog/homeless-count-in-chicago-may-have-dropped-but-are-more-people-exiting-homelessness.
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“Estimate of People Experiencing Homelessness in Illinois - Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.” Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, 17 Oct. 2022, www.chicagohomeless.org/estimate-of-homeless-people-in-chicago/.


“3934 N Monticello Ave Unit 3S, Chicago, IL 60618.” Redfin.com, 2022, www.redfin.com/city/29470/IL/Chicago/housing-market.