Essay on Parking and Rita Panahi

Submitted By pond3rous
Words: 810
Pages: 4

Melbourne is Liveable & Friendly but We Can Do Better
A Language Analysis by Brian Park Bae

The article titled “Melbourne is Liveable and Friendly but We Can Do Better” was written by Rita Panahi was published on the 25th of August, 2014, by the Herald Sun. The author writes how even though Melbourne has been voted the most liveable city in the world we still have a long way to go in terms of small things like over-priced carparks, congestion as well a permanent 40km/h speed limit in the CBD. The writer is reaching out to current residents of Melbourne as well council members. Panahi adopts a cynical tone that becomes increasingly mocking towards the end of the article that spur the audience to bring about a change in their community.

Panahi’s first argument condemns Melbourne’s overpriced parking fees. The author starts her argument with the use of adjectives and figurative language, describing parking fees as “exorbitant” and parking enforcement officers as an “enthusiastic army”. Using humour, the witty joke “the response time for a parking ticket to an expired meter is the envy of the ambulance service” suggests the writer’s perspective on the topic. Phrases like this fill the reader with contempt for parking officers and anger is directed at the City Council for these prices that make you “part with the contents of your child’s piggy bank”. Panahi aims to position readers to feel receptive towards upholding a more emotional reaction, hoping to arouse a big enough reaction that will make readers take action. Her tone which can only described as mocking, aggravates the audience even more. The writer hopes to enlist the support of the general readership; coercing them to see her point of view.

Moreover, Panahi addresses the irritating issue of congestion suffered by residents and tourists alike. The author continues to criticise the City Council and the Napthine Government management of the CBD, disagreeing with decisions such as a permanent 40km/h speed limit. There is a tonal shift to a more satirical and offhand manner of speech, whilst maintaining the same rationality that is stressed at the start of the article. The use of connotation in pejorative phrases like “a gaggle of misguided hippies begging lawmakers” has the dual effect of attacking the City Council and establishing a connection with readers who are residents of Melbourne as putting up with these “lawmakers” is something they have in common and something they both have to put up with. Her choice of vocabulary paints the City Council and the State Government in an unflattering light and generates scorn from her audience that is directed at the authorities. By incorporating a small anecdote “…….forced to crawl along at a snail’s pace along wide, empty streets (at midnight)” into her argument, it positions her audience to feel a sense of familiarity and understanding as it may be something they themselves have gone through. It has the effect of making the reader sympathetic towards the author’s point of view and contention.

In contrast, Panahi then talks about problems experienced by tourists, “the Myki Madness”. The author