Literary Analysis Essay for I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot By the Taliban

Writing Prompts:

Choose one of the following prompts to answer in a developed expository essay.

Prompt 1: Setting. Every story has a setting, and every setting affects the characters, plot, and theme of a story. Show how Malala is affected or changed by her setting. How does she act differently in new or different environments? What does she learn about herself because of the setting?

Prompt 2: Character Analysis: Show how Malala describes herself. How does she paint a picture of herself and her trials during this time? What conflict(s) does she face? How does she resolve them?

Prompt 3: Theme. A story can have one or many themes; the author of the work also has an opinion about this/these theme(s). Identify a theme in your book and explain what the author’s position is on this theme. What does the author seem to be saying about this particular theme? What does he want the reader to consider about this theme?

Prompt4: Identify a significant line or quote from the nonfiction text you have chosen. Explain how this particular line or quote from the text reveals the main idea or theme of the entire book itself.

Prompt 5: Identify and discuss three key points, lessons, or steps from the book that would support a recommendation of the book to another student. In other words, explain why someone else would benefit from reading or what they would learn from reading this book.

Prompt 6: Choose another nonfiction book that you have read (besides the one you have chosen fort his assignment). Compare and or contrast two significant aspects of the book. If they are two books on similar subjects, you may include how one book better informs or instructs better than the other.


Prompt 7: Malala says that her father “believed that lack of education was the root of all of Pakistan’s problems” (41). The focus of Malala’s message is that an education is worth dying for, but what is Malala’s perspective of education? How is that perspective the same or different than how we, in America, view education? What might Malala think about our understanding of education? Is her only goal to get a job? Does education cure all problems? How does it make life different/better? What doesn’t education do? How do you relate these ideas to your own education?

Prompt 8:When Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah began doing his radio shows and warning “people to stop listening to music, watching movies and dancing,” Malala explains that “mullahs often misinterpret the Quran and Hadith when they teach them in our country, as few people understand the original Arabic” (113). Can we relate this to the religious climate in American culture? How does the fact that this information is relayed via radio shows relate to American media and the information we receive through it? How do we determine what news is valuable to listen to and what news isn’t?

Prompt 9: Malala writes, “In Pakistan when women say they want independence, people think this means we don’t want to obey our fathers, brothers or husbands. But it does not mean that. It means we want to make decisions for ourselves” (219). What is the difference? In the US, we put great stock in the idea of independence – how is our understanding of independence similar or different?

Prompt 10: One reviewer has stated "Ms. Yousafzai has single-handedly turned the issue of the right of girls - and all children - to be educated into headline news." Who else has had this kind of effect globally? What was the topic, and how is that issue faring? Do you think Malala's impact will continue?

Prompt 11: Do you think that Malala's father put her in too much danger when he first volunteered her for the role of blogger?Was it right for the BBC to ask this of or agree to the use of such a young girl? How do you think you would have reacted had you been asked to do something similar?

Prompt 12: The All Pakistan Private Schools Federation bannedI Am Malalain over 150,000 institutions, stating that it disrespected Islam and could have a "negative" influence. What kind of influence do you think the Federation fears the book could have? Do you think the content ofI Am Malalais critical toward the foundational practices of Islam, or are the book's criticisms not as religiously focused as the Federation seems to fear? What other motivation could the Federation have had for banning the book? What do you think the benefits could be for children and adults in Pakistan if the book was promoted instead of banned? How does the ban onI Am Malalacompare with action taken in areas of the United States to ban books likeThe Catcher in the RyeandTo Kill a Mockingbird?

Prompt 13: When Malala won the Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award in Sept. 2013, she said she hopes to become a politician because "politicians can have influence on a broad scale." Do you think politicians have enough influence to create large-scale change? During such turbulent times in Pakistan? Turbulent times in the world? In general?

Prompt 14: The Pakistani culture described inI Am Malalaseems very different from mainstream American culture, but there are similarities between the two as well. What are some important values and practices that our cultures share? In what ways do you think the Pakistani culture described in the book may be superior to our own and vice versa? What aspects of American culture do you think inspire violence from groups like the Taliban?

Length:

Must be at least 2 full typed pages, MLA format

Audience:

The essay is to be written for an audience that may not have read your book choice.

Point Value:

The essay will be valued at 100 points.

Due:

Thursday, January 7