I Am Malala Rhetorical Techniques

In the country of Pakistan more than seven million children are not enrolled in primary school due to the beliefs of the Taliban. Fifty- four percent of this statistic is of the female population. Although these numbers may be a shock to most, this is an ordinary way of living to many young girls of pakistan. Malala Yousafzai-a young activist known for campaigning for education and equality-challenged the Taliban’s ethics and fought to raise awareness, showing the injustice of education in her country of Pakistan. In her narrative “ I am Malala”, she uses rhetorical devices to strengthen her central message and deepen the connection between her and the audience. Her use of pathos, imagery, and ethos are particularly prominent and allows her readers to have a greater understanding of her overall implication.

Throughout her novel, Malala utilizes the rhetorical device pathos.

By using raw emotion and memories from her past she advocates how essential getting a proper education is for children and women. In her biography,“ I am Malala”, she displays this when saying, “ Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow… it is neither Eastern or Western, it is human,”(Yousafzai, pg.163 ). When Yousafzai expresses this outlook to her readers she is trying to emphasize how education should be offered to everyone and is fighting for equality in foreign countries such as her home village is SWAT Valley. Readers can appeal to this since they are being introduced to a whole new way of living since most of her readers live in the modern day world where they are not able to relate to Malala’s old way of life. This is Yousafzai’s main goal when speaking out about about the education issues to influence change and encourage others to take the first step towards

activism.
In Malala’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech she uses many examples of ethics, establishing her credibility with the audience. An example of this is when she says,“ Dear brothers and sisters I was named after the inspirational Malalai of Maiwand.” (Yousafzai, 2014). By Yousafzai addressing her audience as her own brothers and sisters she is humanizing herself to her audience ,showing that she is just a average girl teenage girl like their own brother or sister would be. This allows the readers to develop a deeper connection with Malala and understand where she is coming from when arguing her central message of equality in education. When the reader is able to relate to Malala and make a connection between their lives , her message she is trying to convey becomes worth listening to and remembering. Another example of ethos is in her narrative, ‘I am Malala”, when she says