Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______

Close Reading Organizer - Chapter 18: The

Woman and the Sea
Directions: Read each summary entry and think about which themes listed in the
Themes Key apply to it, then color in those themes in the Theme Tracker. Next, write a
few sentences of Analysis to explain how the themes you chose apply to each summary
section.

Themes Key
1 Women’s Rights
2 The Power of Education
3 Islam and Its Interpretations
4 Goodness
5 Fame, Power, and the Importance of Role Models

Summary Theme Tracker Your Analysis

As the chapter begins, Malala’s

Aunt Najma is crying. She and
Malala, along with the rest of
Malala’s immediate family, are
sitting on the beaches of the
Arabian Sea. Malala and her
family have come to the seaside
town of Karachi to visit Najma.
Although Najma has lived in
1 2 3 4 5
Karachi for thirty years, she has
never seen the ocean, since
she’s required to be
accompanied by a man and to
wear a burqa at all times. As
Malala watches her aunt weep,
she wonders to herself how it’s
possible for an entire to society
to repress half of its population.

The year is 2012, Malala 1 2 3 4 5

reveals. Malala has traveled to
Karachi to appear on television
—a school in Abottabad has
been named in her honor, and
journalists want to speak to her.

1
Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______

Malala traveled by plane to

reach Karachi—the first time in
her life she’s traveled in such a
way. Karachi, she notes, is one
of the largest cities in the world.
It’s an important port for
Pakistan, and a place where
hundreds of different languages
are spoken. There is also a great
deal of violence in the city, as a
result of its diversity.

In Karachi, Malala attends an

assembly held in her honor,
where she’s applauded by an
audience of thousands. She
visits schools in the city,
including several which will be
named after her. Children sing
for her, and she receives an oil
portrait of herself. Malala also
visits the tomb of Mohammed
Ali Jinnah, the founder of
Pakistan. This is an especially
important part of her visit,
because the tomb is decorated 1 2 3 4 5
with Jinnah’s speeches, in which
he claims that Pakistan should
protect people’s freedom of
speech and religion. As Malala
explores the tomb, she’s
reminded of the foolishness of
the Taliban: instead of worrying
about the proper interpretations
of the Quran, she thinks,
Pakistanis should concentrate on
practical issues like fighting
poverty, and promoting
education.

During her visit to Karachi, 1 2 3 4 5

Malala meets a reporter named
Shehla Anjum, who tearfully
warns Malala that the Taliban
have threatened to kill her.
Ziauddin is shocked by this
news, as he didn’t think the

2
Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______

Taliban would stoop so low as to

threaten a thirteen-year-old girl.
He insists that Malala abandon
her political activism for a time,
but Malala promptly refuses to
do so. She’s committed to
supporting women’s rights and
women’s education, and if she
backs down now, the Taliban will
have won a victory.

Malala and her family return to

Swat, still shaken by the news
that the Taliban wants Malala
dead. Ziauddin speaks to the
police in Mingora, who suggest
placing Malala under
surveillance to protect her at all
times. Malala and Ziauddin say
that they don’t need this
protection, at least not yet. 1 2 3 4 5
Nevertheless, Malala becomes
paranoid about walking outside
at night. She’s also disheartened
to learn that she’s come in
second place in her exams for
the year—months of collecting
awards and traveling have
distracted her from her own
education.