On September 3, 2013, Malala Yousafzai returned to the microphone again to open the new Library of Birmingham in England, the largest library in Europe. Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager, was speaking out for women’s education in Pakistan in October 2012 when her courage and civic engagement put her in danger of the Taliban, who shot at her and her friends.
Davies, Caroline. Malala Yousafzai Opens New Birmingham Library. The Guardian. 2013. Web. 5 Sep. 2013.
Yousafzai had a bullet graze her brain. She was airlifted to Birmingham for treatment, where she has since recovered and made the city her second home. Despite her brush with death, she continues to speak out not only for women’s rights, but for the rights of all children and women around the world. On her 16th birthday, she continued to contribute as a citizen of her Pakistani and youth community by speaking to a large group of student delegates at the United Nations.
This week, she had the honor of opening the largest library in Europe. In her speech, she resonates with civic engagement as she takes lead and points out to everybody that knowledge is power. She is actively informed about the problems of education in the world, and she takes action through speeches such as these. She tries to persuade and encourage others to help her in her fight for education.
It is apparent that she puts others ahead of herself. Even though she now has a home in Birmingham where she is freely being educated, she still stands up for her community in Pakistan and other countries where children and women are still suffering through speeches like the one she did on Tuesday.
Yousafzai’s use of rhetoric in her speech is amazing for her age, as she always stays composed and speaks clearly and forcefully. She is able to get people to pay attention to her from the beginning. First, she connects herself with the people of Birmingham with an appeal of ethos, labeling herself and her audience with the humorous local city nickname of “Brummies.” Then, continually addressing her audience as “brothers and sisters” and having their greater attention, she introduces the topic of her discussion. She declares that knowledge can defeat terrorism and implores us not to forget that “only one book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” She also uses the statistic that 57 million children are not getting education. This uses the appeal of logos, getting her audience to think about what she just proposed. How can just one book, pen, child, and teacher change the world exactly, and how is it that that many children are not getting educated?
Throughout her speech, she is very persuasive about the idea that knowledge is power. She speaks with great confidence on the subject, and her near death experience speaks loud to the audience about just how true the threat of terrorism is in the Middle Eastern countries. The idea that the Taliban would try to silence children for being activists for their own education helps Yousafzai gain sympathy for those children and women around the world who still are not being educated, an example of an appeal of pathos.
Opening the largest library in Europe emphasizes her goal of education for the world, as libraries are symbols of knowledge. As she continues to be one of the youngest activists for childhood education, she will continue to gain support for her cause because of her poise and great passion for the effort. If you have not already seen Yousafzai’s speeches, I strongly recommend that you watch them. Her passion and confidence can easily capture people’s attention and will continue to gain support for her cause until it is truly fixed.
Links:
Library of Birmingham Speech – http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/malala-yousafzai-opens-birmingham-library
Davies, Caroline. Malala Yousafzai Opens New Birmingham Library. The Guardian. 2013. Web. 5 Sep. 2013.
United Nations Speech – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRh_30C8l6Y
ABC News. “Girl Shot in Head by Taliban, Speaks at UN: Malala Yousafzai United Nations Speech 2012.” YouTube. Web. 5 Sep. 2013.
What a wonderful topic for your RCL post! I have talked about Malala to my teenage sons not only to show the cowardice of the people who attacked her but also as an example of how powerful people their age can be.
You have noted some effective rhetorical techniques Malala uses in her speech. I look forward to reading your rhetorical analysis essay later in the semester.
Malala Yousafzai has always struck me as particularly inspiring not just because of her young age (she was 11 when she began writing about life under Taliban rule), but because she wrote without the expectation or foreknowledge of the influential figure she has become. It is easy for someone who is already famous to ally themselves to the cause of the day, but to write without allies simply because it is the right thing to do– that is exceptional to me. It takes extreme strength of character to have such strong convictions at a young age; it takes exceptional bravery to keep writing, and educating, under threats such as Malala has faced.
There are a lot of components in what makes someone a good rhetorician. Those who write speeches for a living can put wonderful words in others’ mouths, PR representatives can coach on delivery, make-up and video editing can make someone look their best. But it is impossible to manufacture passion, and that is what Malala Yousafzai shows to great extent in her speeches. Universal education isn’t exactly a popular hot button issue. Many people may feel apathetic towards it. But Malala is able to successfully convey its importance in her life, to others, and around the world in such a way as you will feel apathy is an impossible choice.
I love listening to Malala speak, but my favorite piece of her work is the illustrated comic by Zen Pencils that details her story along with some of her more famous quotes.
This post really interested me because of how she is still working towards women’s rights and education for all even after her horrific injury. It really caught my attention because even though I had heard of her story before, I never knew that she was doing all of this work after the fact, so it is awesome that you were able to keep everyone updated because I hadn’t heard any information about her for a long time. She is truly an inspiration to anyone who is going through difficult times. It would have been easier for her to give up after her near death experience but she has shown incredible perseverance.
I found this post very interesting. The most important thing about this girl’s story, in my opinion, is that she continued to advocate for women’s rights even after the attempt on her life. If she had just backed down groups like that Taliban would be even more inclined to attack those who disagree with them. She seems to be doing great things and I look forward watching her speeches.
This is incredible. I have family who live in the UK and I have been in Birmingham multiple times; it’s shocking how topics that seem so far away are closer to home than you think.
Malala Yousafzai is certainly an inspiration. It’s mindblowing to think that at only 16 she is having such a large impact on the world. It makes you realize that your age doesn’t hinder you from making a change in the world.