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GenevieveHolguin
Dr.DevBose
English101
April24,2016
HumanitarianAidforImmigrants:AGenreAnalysisofanOnlineVideoandPamphlet
Theimmigrantandrefugeecommunityisagroupofpeopleinsearchofsafety,
opportunityandabetterqualityoflifeintheUnitedStates.TheMerriamWebsterDictionary
definesanimmigrantas:apersonwhohascometoacountrytotakeuppermanentresidence
(MerriamWebster).Websteralsodefinesarefugeeas:someonewhohasbeenforcedtoleavea
countrybecauseofwarorforreligiousorpoliticalreasons(MerriamWebster).Whenan
immigrantorrefugeearrivesintheU.S.,theymaynothaveasinglepossessionbuttheclothes
ontheirbacks,forthisreasontheywillseekassistancefromthestateofArizona.Themost
commonhumanitarianaidsoughtafterisfood,shelter,clothing,medicalservices,counseling
andlegalaid.Atfirst,animmigrantorrefugeemaybeoverwhelmedwithlearningwhat
resourcesareavailabletofulfilltheirbasichumanneeds;thepriorityofthesebeingfood.For
thisreason,bothgenresofonlinevideosandpamphletswillbeanalyzedcarefullytodiscoverthe
mosteffectivegenreforacommunitymemberindireneedofameal.Whyisawellbalanced
mealadebatablesubjectintheUnitedStates?WhilemanyAmericansbelieveHumanitarian
AidisNeveraCrime,someAmericansareunsureofthesignificancefoodsecurityhasinthis
community.InTucson,Arizona,aninformationalpamphletisthemosteffectivegenrethatthe
immigrantandrefugeecommunityrelyonforfoodsecurity.

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Purpose
WhenanimmigrantarrivesinTucson,andhasfamilylivinglocally,theywilllocatetheir
familyinsearchofreferralsforhumanitarianaid.Onceinthepresenceoftheirfamily,theymay
beshownavarietyofonlineresourcestolearntheirfirststepstoreceivingaid.Animmigrant
familywilllearnTheSouthernArizonaCommunityFoodBankisaresourceinTucsonoffering
wellbalancedmealsforanindividualorafamily.Shouldanimmigrantorrefugeenothavea
contactinTucson,theywillseekassistanceatalocalchurchortheDepartmentofEconomic
Security(DES)office(Perez).ItisattheDESofficethatsomeoneinneedofbasicassistance
willseeapamphletcontainingpertinentinformationforthebeginningoftheirnewlifein
Tucson.
ApubliconlinevideocalledBancodeAlimentosdelSurdeArizona(Southern
ArizonaFoodBank)(2012)createdbyaMexicannewsoutletcalledConexionDoce
(Connection12)wascreatedtoinformthecommunityofimmigrantsandrefugeesaboutthefood
bank.Inthisvideo,thecommunitylearnsaboutwheretolocatefoodboxes,aswellaswhatfood
staplesareintheboxes.Theboxespreparedcontainenoughfoodforafewdaysforafamilyand
carrystaplessuchastuna,macaroniandcheese,juice,tomatosauceandsoups(2012).Creatinga
videowithfoodimagesanddescriptionofservices,thegoalfortheSouthernArizona
CommunityFoodBankistoensurenocommunitymembergoeshungry.TheSouthernArizona
CommunityFoodBankstrivestoprovideavisualaidthatsurpasseslanguagebarriersensuringa
directmessageaboutfoodsecurity.

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Aninformationalpamphletisusedtoinformthecommunityofresourcesavailablein
Tucson.ApamphletiscreatedbythestateofArizonatogenerateawarenessofthehumanitarian
aidanimmigrantorrefugeeneedstolivedaytodayinTucson.Itistheintentionoftheagency
toplacepamphletsinlocationswhichreceivethemostfoottrafficofimmigrantsandrefugees.
Oncethepamphletisreceivedbytheindividualorfamily,thetextmaybetranslatedintotheir
nativelanguagetofulfilltheirneeds.ThepamphletgiventothecommunitybyDESiscreatedto
informthemaboutFoodAssistanceProgramsinArizona.Onthepamphlet,thecommunitycan
seealistofhowtoapplyfornutritionassistanceandfoodstamps,withthegoalofcreating
healthierfoodchoicesthroughabenefitsprogram.
Audience
RuthTapia,assiststheTucsonimmigrantandrefugeecommunitywomenbyteaching
themhowtostartvegetablegardens.Sheeducatesthemonnutrition,grocerybudgetingand
eatinghealthyfoods(Duarte).RuthalsoinvitesthemtotheweeklyFarmersMarketheldatThe
SouthernArizonaCommunityFoodBank.RuthTapiaistheeconomicliteracycoordinatoratthe
foodbank,butoncesoughtfoodassistanceatthefoodbankherself.Aftercompletingherown
literacyclasseswhenshefirstarrivedfromObregon,MexicoRuthbecameinspiredtogiveback
totheimmigrantandrefugeecommunity(Duarte).Ashortfiveyearsafterreceivingassistance,
Ruthisaprimeexampleofhowreceivinghumanitarianaidfromthefoodbankcanchangelives.
Itismyobservation,thatlocalMexicannewschannelsprovidetheSouthernArizonaHispanic
communityofimmigrantsandrefugeeswithcurrentresourcesforfoodsecurity.Viewing
televisionnewsintheirnativelanguageofferstheresourcewithoutcausingfearofdeportation
(Munger).

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JuliaPerez(pseudonym),isawomanwhobecameaU.S.citizenlaterinherlifeandhas
livedinTucsonformanyyearsnow.JuliausesmanyservicesfromTheDepartmentof
EconomicSecurityandrefersfriendsandfamilytotheirservicesaswell.Althoughsheisno
longerconsideredanillegalimmigrant,shesupportsmanyfriendsandfamilymembersarein
thiscommunity.JuliawasgivenapamphletbyaDESemployeetofollowuponservicesfor
domesticviolence.Juliareceivedfreecounselingandfinancialaidtomoveoutofherabusive
homewithherfourchildren.Tothisday,Juliarecallsfeelingoverwhelmedwithfearofnot
havingmoneytofeedherchildrenifsheleftherhusband(Perez).Ididntknowwhotoask,I
wasembarrassedandashamed.IfeelcomfortableattheDESofficeandsawapamphletonthe
chair,Ipickeditupandneverlookedback.(Perez)Juliaisconfidentthatifshewasntableto
receiveinformationquicklyaboutFoodStampsandotherresources,shewouldnthavehadthe
couragetoseekhelp.WomensimilartoJuliaaretheprimaryaudiencefortheDESinformational
pamphlet.
Structure
TheonlineinformativevideoforSouthernArizonaCommunityFoodBankistypicalofa
newsvideo.Whileanonlinevideomayseemlimitlessinitsstructurewithfreedomspertaining
tothelength,thevideoanalyzedcounteredthatassumption.Oneofthegreatestlimitationsof
thisparticularvideoisthetimerestriction;theimmigrantorrefugeecommunityisnotgoingto
havetheresourcestospendhourswatchingavideo.Thevideoanalyzedis1:55minuteslongfor
thepurposeofsendingoutaconcisemessagetothecommunity.Oneofthestrengthsofthe
structureofanonlinevideoistheorganization.Thisgenreiswellorganizedwithan
introduction,abodyofthemessageandaconclusionwithcontactinformation.Thestructureof

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anonlinevideofacilitatesakeymessage,deliveredinanefficientamountoftimetoreachas
manymembersoftheimmigrantandrefugeecommunityaspossible.
TheDESpamphletgiventothecommunityisstandardofaninformationalpamphlet.The
pamphletsgreatestlimitationisspace;withapamphletneedingtobehandheldandeasytopass
out,theinformationconveyedneedstofitaccordingly.Noticeably,thegenreofapamphletis
wellorganizedwithbriefparagraphsandacleartypeface.Lastly,thestructureofthisgenre
stronglyfacilitatesanimportantmessagetothecommunitythroughdirectandconciseplacement
oftext.
FormandDesign
Anonlinevideoisarelativelycommongenretoacomputerliterateindividualor
community.WhilemostyoungTucsonansareconsumedintheYouTubeworldofvideos,an
immigrantorrefugeefamilymaynotbevideolinksavvy.ThevideofeaturingtheSouthern
ArizonaFoodBankislocatedontheYouTubewebsiteunderthesearchtermsfoodbank
Tucson.ThevideoisshownincolorandspokenintheSpanishlanguage.TheSpanishis
spokeninaformaltoneandisdirect.Whenlisteningtotheintervieweespeak,sheusesaneutral
toneofvoicewhichisfriendlyandinformative.Inadditiontotheinterviewee,thenarratoris
alsousinganeutralvoicewhichisformal.Lastly,thetextusedduringthevideoisofthename
andphonenumberofthefoodbank.
Aninformationalpamphletisquiteeasytorecognizebecauseitisaformoftextonas
singleorfoldedpaper.Thequalityofpaperusedisahighergraderatherthanaprintpagethat
mayteareasily.ThepamphletusedbyDESisprintedinblacktextwithawhitebackgroundand

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nocolorphotos.ThefirsttextnoticeableistheDESlogoatthetoprighthandofthepamphlet;
thereisablackandwhiteimageofpeopleholdinghandsrightabovethetext.Thetypefaceis
boldTimesRomanandCalibri,whichhelpsthereaderquicklyscanthepamphlet.Lastly,the
conciseandbriefparagraphsareintheSpanishandEnglishlanguagetoensureacommunity
response.
RhetoricalIssues
Theonlinevideoworkstoestablishcredibilitywiththecommunitythroughtheuseofa
newsoutlet,aswellastheeffectivenessoftheinterviewee.Theintervieweeiseitheran
employeeoravolunteerofthefoodbankandprovidescredibilitybyherformaltoneofvoice.It
ismyobservationthatthewomanstoneofvoiceisconsistentwiththatofaprofessionalina
workplace.Sheusesanappropriatetonetoconveyaseriousmessagetothecommunity,while
statingfactsaboutthefoodoffered.
Anonlinevideobythefoodbanknotonlyoffersfoodsecurity,butresearchshowsthe
resourcemayalsomaintainanindividualspersonaldignity(Munger).Whileanimmigrantor
refugeeparentmaygowithouteatingintheireffortstofeedtheirchildren,theyaresacrificing
theenergyneededtofindworkormoreresources(Munger).Manyimmigrantorrefugeeparents
relyontheirtechsavvychildrentodistributeinformationtotherestofthefamilyfromanonline
source(Perez).Thisresultsintheparentsreceivingvitalinformationmorequicklyalleviatingthe
stressorsfoodinsecuritycauses(Munger).Notonlyisthesuccessofthegenremeasuredbyhow
manycommunitymembersarerelievedoffoodinsecurity,butalsobyhowmanyviewsare
loggedonthevideospage.Ultimately,thechallengeforanimmigrantorrefugeeisinternet
accesstoviewsuchinformationalvideosonhumanitarianaid.

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Theinformationalpamphletworkstoestablishcredibilitywiththecommunitythrough
theuseoftextonthecover.ThetextclearlycitesTitleVIandVIIoftheCivilRightsActof
1964onthefaceofthepamphletdispellinganynotionthatthepamphletisafraud.Beingthat
thepamphletisforinformationalpurposesonly,thereisnointenttoevokeemotionfromthe
community.
Thereeffectivenessofthepamphletalsoreliesonthekinshipaspectoftheimmigrantand
refugeecommunity(Perez).Whenamemberofthiscommunityisinneed,theyaremorelikely
toasktheirneighbororsomeonewithundocumentedstatusforlocalresources(Munger).The
informationalpamphletistangibleandcanbedistributedwithinthecommunitybyhand;this
typeofdistributionreachesalargeraudienceprovidingservicestomoreimmigrantsand
refugees.Theresourcespreadsbywordofmouth,andtheypassthepamphlettooneanotherin
supportofthecommunity(Perez).Thesuccessoftheinformationalpamphletisnotonly
measuredbytheleveloftrusttheimmigrantandrefugeecommunitystateresources,butbythe
numberofindividualsandfamilieswhobenefitfromnutritionalassistance.Aneasierprocessof
receivingnutritionalassistanceresultsinmoreimmigrantandrefugeeadultsandchildrenhaving
choicesofhealthierfoods;higherperformanceinschool;higherenergyforworkopportunities
anddecreasesfoodinsecuritystressors(Munger).
Conclusion
Aninformationalpamphletisamuchmoreeffectivegenreusedbythecommunityof
immigrantsandrefugeesbecauseitisatangiblelistofresourcesforhumanitarianaid.Without
internetaccess,acommunityinneedisunabletobeinformedoftheorganizationswhoserve
them.Whiletheveryinspirationforahumanitarianorganizationistodeliverqualityaidtoan

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underservedpopulation,theirgoalmaynotbeaccomplishedwithoutapamphletversionoftheir
onlinepresence.Foodsecurity,nutritioneducationandassistanceisthemostvaluableresource
Tucsonprovidesfortheimmigrantandrefugeecommunity.Itisbythecontinuedeffortsof
organizationsandentitiessuchasSouthernArizonaCommunityFoodBankandTheDepartment
ofEconomicSecuritythattheTucsoncommunityextendsahandup,notahandout.

WorksCited
"Immigrant."MerriamWebster.com.MerriamWebster,n.d.Web.9Apr.2016.
"Refugee."MerriamWebster.com.MerriamWebster,n.d.Web.9Apr.2016.
ConexionDoce.BancodeAlimentosdelSurdeArizona.YouTube.YouTube,1Mar2012.
Web.21Apr.2016.r.20(Duarte)

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Duarte,Carmen.Womangivesback,educatesimmigrants.ArizonaDailyStar,The(Tucson,
AZ)28May2007,TUCSON/REGION:B1
Munger,AshleyL.,etal.MorethanjustNotenough:ExperiencesofFoodInsecurityforLatino
Immigrants.JournalofImmigrantandMinorityHealth17.5(2015;2014)154856.Web.
Perez,Julia(pseudonym).PersonalInterview.8April2016.
Perez,Julia(pseudonym).PersonalInterview.21April2016.