Essay: how does a malls design affect the identity of a visitor? IDEAS?

Descriptive essay

how does the way a commercial mall is designed affect the identity of visitors?are certain aspects encouraged or discouraged, and how is this achieved?

so that is the topic we were given in class.
we are asked to write a 1000 word essay.

the problem is that i cant seem to find nice unique ideas.
i was thinking of writing the essay in 3 points of views, one from a teenagers experience in a mall and another from a middle aged woman, and a third from an old persons point of view...
but i cant figure out how to pull it all together and how to start the essay..

Please help
Thanks
Nomad

Try to think of ways that the three age groups would view the same thing about the commerical mall....

For example, the signs --- font size and font type (young people may be able to read the fonts, but older people may have difficultly); the building and landscape-- young people may not see the use of nice landscaping and building, but adults will; security guards, parking, expected mother's parking, floors (anti-skid, etc), layout (multiple stories v. one story; steps v. escalator or elevator).

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Careful you don't end up writing on the wrong topic. It sounds like you might be about to write about how the identity of expected visitors affects the way malls are designed. Or about how a mall's design affects visitors differently depending upon their identities. However, neither of these is the topic you have posted. Instead, you have been asked to write about how the design of a mall helps shape the identity of the visitor. So, ask yourself what identity/identities a mall might want to impose on its visitors. Certainly, at the top of your list would be "consumer," but "good citizen" might also apply (so they respect the stores and don't litter or damage the mall). You can probably think of a couple of others with a bit of effort. Then, ask yourself how the design of the mall is meant to encourage visitors to adopt those identities.