Ayshea Feliciano
Ms. Wing
English Pre-AP P.3
27/8/17
1. How does Malala and
Marjane compare and
contrast as individuals?
What are their
personalities like?
2. How do Malala’s and
Marjanes life and their
families’ lifestyle differ?
Malala has a very upbringing personality, and she is a very
unique, and different child from most, in the best of ways. Even
with the start of a bad life, she still turned out to be an amazing
person. Being born as a girl was a struggle, since girls are seen as
a burden, who clean and cook, but boys are seen as warriors,
wanted. Girls are hidden away, and boys are celebrated, so
growing up with two brothers must’ve had an impact on her. She
is a very courageous, and determined girl, who stands for girl
education, and is very against violence, “Maybe I’d take off my
shoes and hit him, but then I’d think if I did that there would be
no difference between me and a terrorist.” (pg.7) Unlike Marjane,
as a child she was born in a normal middle class family, who
could afford a maid, and to take care of another child. She was
very convincible towards other people and news, and believed
lots of things she heard, and is also a violent child. “My idea was
to put nails between our fingers like American brass knuckles and
to attack Ramin.” Although, even in both their societies, they
should be growing up into doctors or teachers, but they are both
opposed to it. They don’t want to live up to society’s expectation,
and want to do their own things like be a stand for girl’s
education, and be the last prophet.
Before Malala lived in Birmingham, England she lived in
Mingora, Swat. A very big own, where many people moved to,
and it became dirty and crowded. It was a place where it was
unsafe to walk the streets, and not many were fortunate to be able
to ride the bus to school, and lots had to walk. Malala was scared
in her own neighborhood that she would be killed or assaulted on
the steps near her house. She was afraid in her own home town,
but she does not live poorly, as the reason she and her father do
discussions around the world, and help many girls who want
education, through her Malala fund. In Marjane family, she may
not have grown up in a poor life, but her family did. “So poor that
we had only bread eat. I was so ashamed that I pretended to cook
so that the neighbors wouldn’t notice anything.” Now things
changed after the shah’s father took everything they owned.
Marjane lives in a better life, where she gets a maid that her
family is able to take care of. Although, she lived a hard life
because lots of her friends were leaving, her family members, and
family friends were getting exiled, imprisoned, or tortured and
killed.
3. What were Malala’s Malala’s and Marjanes hometown were different but alike. They
and Marjane’s home were both violent places, with a war going on. Though, they did
towns like? love it. Malala did move around a lot, but always knew Swat was
her town, and it wasn’t so poverished either. “We lived in
Mingora, the biggest town in the valley, in fact the only city. It
used to be a small place, but many people had moved in from
surrounding villages, making it dirty and crowded. It has hotels,
colleges, a nearby golf course and a famous bazaar for buying our
traditional embroidery, gemstones and anything you can think
of.” (pg.17) Malala loved her home as it was a place she grew up,
but it was still in a place of violence and war, just like Marjanes.
In her home town there was violence and fights and killings every
day. Going out during the depositions were dangerous, because it
was violence everywhere. It was also a very low income place,
with families who can’t afford to take care of all their children,
don’t have a car, some children who can’t read/write, and more.
In Malala’s hometown there were buildings, meanwhile in
Marjanes’ it’s just a small village with depositions every night.
4. How has society shaped Society has had a really big impact on everyone and their lives.
them to be the person they Living in a very strict society, with lots of rules and expectations
are today, and their is also really hard, especially for the two girls. Their society has
dreams? shaped them into the person they are, and their dreams and future
ahead of them. In Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, she had to lie to
fit in, and soon change her dream occupation to fit in with
society. “My parents were called in by the teacher. Your child is
disturbed. She wants to become a prophet… Nonetheless my
parents were puzzled… So tell me my child, what do you want to
be? (Thinks a prophet) I want to be a doctor!” (pg.6) She wanted
to be a prophet, and she told her friends, and god. With a strict
society with high expectations, she couldn’t tell her parents she
wanted to be a prophet, when their dreams and expectations are
for her to be a nurse or something high class. In Malala, she had a
dream too, one that was also crushed. “Her dream was to be a
fashion designer although she knew her family would never agree
to it, so she told everyone she wanted to be a doctor. It’s hard for
girls in our society to be anything other than teachers or doctors if
they can work at all.” (pg.7) Malala had other dreams to be a
fashion designer, but because of the society she lives in, and the
family she has, she can’t not live up to that dream. She has to be a
doctor or teacher because of the conditions she’s in, and the
circumstances. It is what is expected of her, and this is why she
chooses to be a doctor, and does not say she will pursue her
fashion designer dream.
5. How did Malala’s Malala always had that tough love motivation from her brothers.
brothers and father In the society she lived in, boys and girls being born are
differently celebrated. “I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired
support, differ from
Marjanes parent support.
7. How did the right of
education, and not having
the right, affect the girls?
8. How has the violence
around them affect their
normal daily lives?
in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a
curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to
children. For most Pashtuns it’s a gloomy day when a daughter is
born.” (1) Due to the loving of boys, and the carelessness of girls,
growing up with two boy brothers, it must have had a hard impact
on her life. Having to live up to two great boys can have a real
toll on someone’s’ life. She is living up to the fullest a girl could,
being top class, and not just cooking and cleaning. Her father
really did believe in her, giving her a name of the good. In
Marjanes life, she didn’t have any expectations from her parents,
or anyone to look up to or to beat. She always had someone there
for her, like her maid, or her parents, that she could count on for
help or more.
Some girls like Malala weren’t so lucky in the education
department. It was always a danger for a girl to attend school, and
boys had it easier. “Khushal said he would rather stay at home
like me. I was cross. “You don’t realize how lucky you
are!”(165) The Taliban bombed girl schools, so this caused more
and more girls to drop out. The Taliban didn’t want girl
education, because it gives them more power, and they want their
followers to feel them. This is why they usually go after those
who have power/speak out. “Now the Talibanization is especially
for us, for those like you and me who continue to speak out.”
(226) People who have a right to education are more lucky, and
don’t realize it. Marji had a path to education, and she doesn’t
realize how lucky she is. Marji didn’t like what was in the
textbooks, and she believed everything in the textbooks too. To
complain about it, and more is what every girl who wants an
education wouldn’t do, they would be grateful. Not having a
rightful education can cause them to be more grateful, but when
not it can make them a more selfish, and violent person.
Violence everywhere and every day, is occurring. Growing up,
and living in a place where violence is everywhere, can impact
the life of the people in it, and those indirectly (those around it
the violence/war.) Marji was sure effected because all of her
friends were moving away, and even the guy she liked. They
were all moving away to be in a safer area, like the US, but her
parents didn’t want to move, so she was stuck with little friends.
Upon that, family members like uncles and such were being
exiled, tortured, killed, and more, which can have a toll on her
mental abilities. Violence has effected Malala because
everywhere around her people are getting bombed for wanting an
education, and women are being threatened for going to the
simplest places. “The women would not be attacked if they went
to the markets, but the Taliban would shout at them and threaten
them until they stayed at home.” (119) It puts fear and loneliness
 in the girls hearts and souls. It affects them from living their
everyday normal lives because they are scared to go out, and they
are scared of what could potentially happen to them.
9. What did each girl do to Marji from Persepolis was always trying to speak out for herself,
speak out for themselves? and what she believed in. She always wanted to go to the
depositions and say what she wanted to say, and she wanted to
protest to tell everyone her rights from her wrongs. She may have
wanted to go to the depositions but her parents would never let
her, because they were always too dangerous for her, but they did
let her go to one. At that one, all chaos broke loose, and people
were getting injured and dying. She tried her best to speak out
for what she believes in. In I Am Malala, Malala spoke out a lot
for herself. She traveled with her father speaking out. She spoke
out about girl education, and she also helped out a lot in places
with no girl education. She did this by helping build schools for
them. She spoke out against what she believe in, and that’s why
the Taliban was so focused on her.
10. What was a significant In “I Am Malala,” by Malala Yousafzai she was shot by the
conflict/event that had Taliban, for speaking out on her girl’s education rights. “That’s
change their life? when he lifted up a black pistol. I later discovered it was a Colt
.45. Some of the girls screamed. Moniba tells me I squeezed her
hand. My friends say he fired three shots, one after another. The
first went through my left eye socket and out under my left
shoulder. I slumped forward onto Moniba, blood coming from
my left ear.” (9) “I am Malala. My world has changed but I have
not.” Due to this, she got to speak out about the situation, and
share her story, that became well known everywhere. In
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, a big significant cha Marji didn’t
like what was in the textbooks, and she believed everything in the
textbooks too.nge or even that occurred was when Marjis uncle
was taken away and killed. As she was just starting to get close to
him, they took him away, and killed him. This impacted her
because he was the only few left of family members she had left,
and she lost him again.