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Christina Ring
Professor Alan Reid
English 101
September 27th, 2015

The Story Behind Malala Yousafzai

The journey taken by Malala Youzafzai was not an easy one. She stood up for
girls education with full determination of not conforming to the Taliban and giving up
her own education and freedom. Malala bravely spread awareness about girls being
denied their right to go to school and spoke out against the Taliban alongside her father
Ziauddin Yousafzai. After being shot in the head by the Taliban, Malala struggled to stay
alive, but received an enormous amount of support around the world. Since then, she has
continued her work as an education activist, receiving both the Nobel Peace Prize and
National Peace Prize. Malala uses pathos, logos and ethos throughout her speech in order
to persuade the audience to stand up for Womans rights. Her Nobel Peace Prize speeches
main thesis is: Let us become the first generation to decide to be the last, let us become
the first generation that decides to be the last that sees empty classrooms, lost childhoods,
and wasted potentials. She uses repetition of the first and the last in order to
challenge her listeners to make a difference in societies that are still neglected today.
In order to effectively pursue her campaign for education and childrens rights,
Malala uses pathos throughout her speech to address the audience. For example, when
addressing world leaders Malala states, Why do leaders accept that for children in
developing countries, only basic education is enough? Why do leaders accept that for

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children in developing countries, only basic literacy is sufficient, when their own children
do homework in Algebra, Mathematics, Science and Physics? Malala effectively
portrays a strong passion for learning, along with exhibiting composure against the
Talibans threats to stop attending school. Malalas goal, to let her voice be heard around
the world, is achieved by her optimism and aspiration to be a role model for all teenage
girls. However, in her native land of Pakistan there were many who did not agree with
her. The Taliban shot me to try to silence me. Instead, the whole world is listening to my
message now (Yousafzai, 191). In a land that esteems boys, females were denied equal
treatment and their right to an education based on gender.
Malala also uses logos to develop an argument for equality in her Nobel Peace
Prize Speech. I raise up my voice not so that I can shout, but so that those without a
voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights: Their right to live in peace.
Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to
be educated (Yousafzai, 191-192). Malala conveys the thesis to the audience by
emphasizing challenges faced by her family, with the invasion of the Taliban and by
demonstrating wisdom in her ability to see the worth in education.
Malalas purpose for speaking is to share her experience with the world in hopes
of ending circumstances such as empty classrooms, children killed by war, and young
girls being told that education is a crime. She develops ethos by using her own personal
experience of struggling against the oppression of children for the right to have an
education. Malala shares her personal insights and uses perspective in order to describe
the events that occurred in Pakistan. She describes her paradise home of the Swat
valley before and after the Taliban took control and how Education went from being a

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right to being a crime. Her heroic struggle to fight for education for her peers proves to
the audience that she is worth listening to and worthy of respect.
The rhetorical organization of the speech is both persuasive and a personal
narrative portraying family life, friendships, faith, and school, similar to the typical
teenager today. Malala uses examples of terrorism, injustice, and inequality in her
hometown of Swat to place an emphasis on the thesis of inequality in education. She
describes life as being one of the children who witnessed innocent people being killed
and schools being bombed as a part of day-to-day life. Malayas personal experience of
surviving after being shot in the head by the Taliban gave her friends, family, and people
around the world an opportunity to join her mission.
In conclusion, Malala Yousafzai successfully made a strong argument in support
of education for girls. She has devoted her life to her cause for equality of opportunity
and has become a symbol of womans rights. Malala is the youngest person to ever be
nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and was awarded Andrei Sakharov Prize for freedom
of thought by European Parliament at sixteen years old. Malala uses humor when she
says, Im pretty certain Im also the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who still
fights with her younger brothers. Malala has demonstrated the power of one persons
ability to change the world by giving people hope. One child, one teacher, one pen, and
one book can change the world (Yousafzai, 192). She had two options, one was to
remain silent and the second was to speak up and Malala chose to speak up and her words
will leave an everlasting impression for generations to come.

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Works Cited

Yousafzai, Malala, and Patricia McCormick. I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood up for
Education and Changed the World. First Edition Ed. New York: Hachette Book
Group, 2014. Print.
"Malala Yousafzai - Nobel Lecture". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 21
Sep 2015.
<http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2014/yousafzailecture_en.html>