TOW #21- A Modest Proposal to Convert Shopping Malls into Prisons by Dan Geddes (written text)

The article, “A Modest Proposal to Convert Shopping Malls into Prisons” by Dan Geddes, is a satirical article from The Satirist. The explicit purpose is to argue that shopping malls should be turned into prisons. However, the implicit purpose is to comment on the behaviors of society, such as the tendencies to work hard to buy cheaply made goods or to eat oneself to death by eating over-priced, unhealthy foods. The title of the article is an allusion to “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift. By doing this, Geddes is able to demonstrate that his article will follow a similar style to Swift’s: heavily satirical, but still making a valid statement about something that needs to be fixed (in Swift’s case, it is about the Irish famine, while in Geddes’ case, it is about the negative tendencies of society). Geddes also uses many of the elements in Swift’s essay in his own as well. For example, both authors go through the math of why their proposals are the best solution to the given problem, which helps appeal to the logos of the argument, making it more believable. Additionally, Geddes article uses humor in an attempt to appeal to pathos. For example, Geddes comments on the traffic light situation of shopping malls, how the lights seem to be always green on the way into the mall, but seem to be always red on the way out. While he comments on this situation in the context of preventing inmates from escaping, this is humorous to the audience who may have experienced a similar occurrence with the traffic lights when just completing “normal” shopping (as opposed to being in mall prison). The intended audience is the members of society who are guilty of committing the things to which Geddes refers. For example, Geddes talks about people being glued to their couches when watching TV or using the Internet, as well as the negative eating and shopping habits of people. Geddes is attempting to open their eyes to the negative effects of their ways but using what they do on a daily basis as parts of his prison. He is able to negatively comment on their actions without offending them too much since it is written in a satirical way and Geddes is not directly criticizing people for doing these things, rather, he suggests making them part of a prison. Geddes ends with a clincher, saying, “And from that, we all benefit” (27). By saying this, Geddes uses irony, since it is ironic that the things done on a regular basis by the general population would be enough of a punishment to prisoners to benefit society on a whole.

http://www.thesatirist.com/satires/PoliticalSatire/mall_prisons.html