International Journal of English and Education

International Journal of English and Education 105
ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014
ANALYSIS OF MALALA YOUSAF ZAI’S SPEECH:

APPLICATION OF ARISTOTLE’S ETHOS, PATHOS, AND LOGOS
Ghulam Haider
Ph.D. (Scholar) Special Education
Department of Special Education
University of the Punjab Lahore, Pakistan
ABSTRACT:This paper applies critical discourse analysis to analyze the speech of
Malal Yousaf Zai. The researcher has made an effort to apply critical discourse
analysis theory, and three modes of persuasion in Rhetoric: Ethos pathos and logos
.Malala Yousaf Zai’s speech before the United Nations Youth Assembly on “Malala
Day’ reaffirms her commitment to girls’ education. She is the true face of Pakistan and
Islam. This speech provides a subtle massage of hope, courage and power in the face of
terrorism. Malala a sixteen years old girl becomes the voice of silenced people who
have never been heard before.
Introduction:
In 1980s social power exploitation, power, authority and inequality were critically
studied via the text and told stories or talk in the social and political perspective. This type of
research was named Critical Discourse Analysis. Conversation is not mere a syntactic formation.
It has more than words, a sea of various meanings that it contains but we always have to make
effort to dive into this sea and bring the meanings up to surface----our knowledge and
experiences. Challenging the orthodoxies is like an adventure that demands an insightful
interpretive skill. So does the critical discourse analysis, Van Dijk(1985) says, critical discourse
analysis owns the responsibility to expose and ultimately erects barriers against social
inequalities. Until we understand what the people talk, what the people say and what
experiences they wish to talk about, it seems impossible to realize the power of discourse.
Discourse is a powerful phenomenon that requires to be interpreted in a social context where it
has been occurred.
The roots of Critical Discourse Analysis can be traced back into the Systematic
Functional Grammar that was developed by an Australian Linguist M.A.K.Hilliday.
Critical Discourse Analysis builds whole of its analytical argument on a public speech for
example, advertisements, newspapers, political propagandas, official documents, laws, by laws
and regulations and so on. It traces the nature of connection among language, ideology and
power.
A lot of researchers and practitioners have applied it for developing their theses across
Pakistan. In Pakistan it is comparatively, a new field of study. The list of researchers who have
worked in this field in Pakistan does not go beyond a few studies. A few studies own their place
Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org
in some linguistic journals for example; Alvi & Baseer,2012;Alvi & Baseer, 2011 an(Naz, Alvi,
& Baseer, 2012).Since Pakistan a country that possesses very strong geo-political and socio-
economic variations owing to a continuous war and terror conditions, she has been facing more
and more academic and Pakistani foreign relations in the 21st century the Critical Discourse
Analysis has emerged as a new field of study. This new area of study has also appeared as a way
to translate pure Pakistani experiences and reproduce untold-experiences to our foreign friends.
After the tragedy of 9/11, Pakistan offered unconditional help to America for abolishing
terrorism in the world. Pakistan became a peace-partner of America and for this coalition
Pakistan has been paying a very heavy price but despite all suicide attacks, loss of life and
property the people of Pakistan have unflinching faith on democracy, international brotherhood,
peace and Education For All.
This study aims to unveil unspoken meanings in Malala’s speech and to reveal what
really Malala wanted nations and particularly Terrorists to know.
Discourse Analysis: Theoretical Underpinnings
There are four major assumptions behind discourse analysis:
1. There are some rules and internal structures that constitute a human discourse.
2. The discourse of a speaker, who is member of a community, is shaped by cultural,

political, economic, social and personal realities.
3. Discourse reflects human experience and at the same time, constitutes important features
of that experience. (Gee, Michaels and G.Connor, 1992).
Gee et.al. (1992) describes there are two different research stances of discourse studies
for educational research: one focuses on the objectivity of the discourse, second stresses upon he
social, cognitive, political and cultural aspects of discourse. The former deals with the form,
meaning, structural functions of a sentence. The later stance focuses on social, cognitive,
cultural, political and psychological processes. Life with its complex and abstracts aspects is
sometimes beyond quantifiable measures and a talk provides a deeper insight into these aspects.
Malala Yousaf Zai is a 16 years old-school-going girl. Last year on October 09 she was
shot by Taliban in Swat. The bullet entered just above her left eye and ran along her jaw, grain
her brain. When she was shot last year in October 9, 2012, surgeons in Pakistan removed the
bullet before she was flown to the UK. She went under a successful surgery on her skull and ear
at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. The doctors applied latest techniques in her
treatment and put titanium plate on her damaged skull and fitted a cochlear plant. This surgery
met success and led towards a recovery. Malala has been offered a permanent residence in the
UK. The father of Malala has also been offered a job with the Pakistan Consulate in UK.

This is a sample speech she gave at the UN, on July 12, 2013. The heroic Malala spoke
with chivalric expression about the Taliban in her Swat homeland in Pakistan. She spoke with
surprising maturity to the leaders of more than 100 countries. This speech challenges the
authority that has become a headache for the world i.e., terrorism. She has emerged as the
advocate of the rights of children. This speech deserves to be listened, read, reread and
appreciated because it has a surprising maturity of oratory and substance. The speech is a
reaffirmation of her commitment to girls’ education in Pakistan particularly and in the whole
world generally.
While talking to Pakistan’s UN Ambassador, Masood Khan, in New York on July 14,
2013, Malala said, she does not want to be known as the girl who tried to kill but as the girl who
fought for her rights, the determination to keep her struggle for a right to live in peace, for a right
to go to school.
For this analysis I have applied the Ethos, Pathos, Logos model speculated by Aristotle
(350 BCE). I have separately discussed each part of the Aristotelian model for this speech to
reveal some important patterns.
Ethos Applied
Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character when

the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible.
(Aristotle, Rhetoric 350 BCE)
This is a Greek word which means accustomed place, custom, habit. This ethos is
originally an appeal to the authority or honesty of the speaker. In other words it can be called a
speaker’s moral possession in the eyes of the listeners, audience. With the help of ethos the
speaker convinces the audience that he or she possesses such a sound knowledge and moral
credibility to address on the particular topic speakers can do it in many ways; by being an
important or well known person, by being a beneficiary of an interest in a matter by using
impressive arguments to the audience that the speaker is a knowledgeable person on the topic
and by appealing a person’s ethics or character. Ethics also reflects the trust of the audience on
the speaker that how much trust the audience gives to a speaker, that how much trustworthy the
speaker is for his or her audience. In brief, character of the speaker is reflected through ethos.
In modern society, it is not an easy task to convince the masses. People in Pakistan often
express disbelief that Malala is an object of controversy. Conspiracy theories in Pakistan prevail
regarding the heroic speech of Malala. She is also perceived as a CIA agent and that the whole
case of firing at her was a planted-conspiracy. So under such circumstances could Malala gain
and maintain a big deal of support from a nation that is still in confusion about her heroic role.
The whole credit goes to her skills of rhetoric that she was able to maintain an image of such

surprising credibility, decency and righteousness in such a country where still two opinions are
found about Taliban and girls’ education, where still people feel reluctant to blame Taliban of
terrorism and cause of illiteracy and economic instability.
In this speech Malala seems to making efforts to establish her credibility, character and
worth. She does not portrait herself as a coward or a victim of atrocities, violence, in-equality or
unjust, but she claims to be the advocate ,champion and a reformer who is against these cruelties,
who wishes to stand high against all these evils. She spends an adequate part of her speech to
show her gratitude for all of those people who have trusted her, who have approved her
credibility. She does so masterfully in the beginning of her speech to attain the audience
attention. Infact she declares that who are her addressee, who are her audience, her audience are
from all over the world. Her audience covers all of the walks of life, from heads of the state to
educationists, from elders to younger and from males to females. She, in fact, speaks to all
communities of the world.
Malala, a real educational and social activist establishes her credibility while recording to
the first woman premier of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated by terrorist,
……….It is an honor for me that I am wearing a shawl of late

Benazir Bhutto”.
Sometimes speaker uses a maxim “Take on the mantle” of a hero, but Malala spends
much of her time in the beginning to flatter the action of those who are in action. She has put
on the shawl of Benazir literally wearing the mantle. This indicates that she is very close to
the emotions, feelings, love and idol worshipping attitudes of the masses of Pakistan. This is
the mantle of a first female Pakistani premier who is loved, respected and even worshipped
by a community in Pakistan Malala presents a tribute not only to a particular community but
to all of the courageous ladies of the world. The mantle of Benazir Bhutto is the mantle of a
woman who made a very chanting and inspiring address to the UN. She was a very well
known figure for most of the audience; her mantle could win Malala credibility as a speaker.
Malala creates the impression that this is how she sees the situation and it comes across as
practically charming.
Malala’s use of ethos is constant, but most intense at the beginning of this speech. In this
speech she does not loses any opportunity to elevate others opinion of herself. Infact she does
not speak about herself without directly or more indirectly attaching some positive attribute.
She begins by indicating that she has been endeavoring to come to an understanding with
Taliban. She indicates that her desire is only to promote education, to promote peace and to
elevate fear of power. That is why she “takes” the mantle of Benazir Bhutto, a mantle of
power that is a contrast against the phrase,

… dear brothers and sisters
Almost all of paragraphs of this speech start with this phrase. They realize the audience
that Malala speaks for them, represents them; Malala is the spokes woman of them. An
example of her skillful speaking is quoted in following,
I speak not for myself, but for all girls and boys…..
In the above sample she both lifts up herself by suggesting she has great concern about
the life and happiness of every young girl and boy, while simultaneously indicating blame for the
damage done to the cause of education in a very subtle pathos.
In her efforts to establish her credibility to the audience, to the people of Pakistan and
Sawat…….. Malala shares her own life experience of being shot by Taliban.
Dear friends, on the 9th of October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of
my forehead. They shot my friends too…
She tells that the Taliban thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed she
further stresses upon the failure of Taliban.
“And then, out of that silence came, thousands of voices.”
Malala continues her story,
The terrorist thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but
nothing changed in my life except this weakness fear and hopelessness died. Strength,
power and courage were born. I am the same Malala. My ambitious are the same. My
hopes are the same. My dreams are the same.
This recount of the personal story of Malala indicates the example of Anamnesis.
According to an online source (http://rhetoric.byu.edu/, cited in Alvi, et. al., 2012) anamnesis is a
figure of ethos that is used to recall to past memories. The use of anamnesis helps Malala
establishing her credibility and dependability to the audience. Malala does not leave her past and
the incident of her being shot unexplained to the audience. She uses this skill to increase her
credibility and attain the attention of the audience as well. With the help of the figure of ethos,
anamnesis, she challenges the authority. She forcefully speaks about the false perceptions of
Taliban that with this attack they would frighten the youth. Malala with the help of this recount
of her past experience declares that she is not afraid of death and fear. Thus these expressions
increase ethos.

Appeal to Authority
Malala speaks about the negation of compassion and non – violence by Taliban. She
negates the role of Taliban.She stresses upon the need of change. She refuses the philosophy of
revenge. According to her views compassion is the best revenge. To authenticate her views she
uses a trio of trilogies. This is device that is used to appeal authority. She applies this classical
technique very skillfully.
“This is the compassion that I have learned form Mohammad, the

Prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This is the
legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson
Mandela, and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy o non
violence that I have learned form Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother
Teresa”.
Malala gives the reference of these personalities to establish her credibility. She
summons these personalities to get the support from the audience of different communities. She
calls for these personalities to provide her spiritual, political and social back up. Malala further
bears out her speech by referring two other personalities.
“And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my mother

and father.”
She gradually, shifts the level of authority to common personalities that indicate that she
evokes humility. This provides instance that she speaks for children, she fights for children and
she is the reformer in real sense Malala refers all the aforesaid personalities to indicate that the
audience is already familiar with the views and teachings of these personalities. The teachings
and ideologies of these personalities were not unknown to the audience. Malala strengthens her
image as a hero of children by mentioning the names of these personalities.
Paragraph eight presents epicrisis i.e., the use of certain references to strengthen some
comment. In other words when some speaker gives reference of some statement by others this is
called epicrisis. She gets support from the references of these personalities. This skill increases
her trust worthiness and credibility.
Malala also refers to Mr. Ban Ki Moon the secretary general of the UN, Mr. Gordon
Brown the premier of the UK to get a support in their presence in the audience. In the same
paragraph that she substantiates the vision of the aforesaid personalities. When she declares to
support the ideology of these icons, in fact she gets a place for her among the leader of the UN;
she stands by the Universal message of peace lovers.

………”I fully support Mr. Ban ki Moon the secretary general in

his global education first initiative and the work of the UN special
envoy Mr. Gordon Brow”
Malala uses climb and collapse as a rhetorical technique to support her speech. She
started referring the top icons to political personalities and from this to her mother and father.
This is a journey of her skillful rhetorical speech to humility. She applies the technique of
climax, and she creates and order from minor to bigger, from smaller to larger sequence of
personalities in this sequence from smaller to larger, Malala uses the technique of litotes. Litotes
is used by the speaker to gain the sympathy of the audience. When some speaker denies the
thoughts of others by giving modest and humble statements, this is called litotes.
Paragraph four deliberately conveys the humbleness of Malala. She challenges the
authority with humble tone.
…. “Malala day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman,

every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their
rights. There are hundreds of Human rights activists and social
workers who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are
struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality.
Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions
have been injured. I am just one of them. So, where I stand… one
girl among many”.
Malala uses the techniques of climax, anticlimax and collapse sequence, very skillfully to
appeal to the authority, the audience. She forces the audience to maximize their perception but
consequently she collapses it to her,
“I am just one of them. So here I stand, one girl amongst many.”
She does not separate herself from others; she is one of the many who have fought for a
noble cause. She is the mouthpiece of all of the masses who love peace equality, education and
justice.
Malala refers to well known persons to influence her audience. She refers to famous men
in paragraphs no’s three and eight. Where Malala refers these personalities, in fact,she is in an
effort to persuade the audience so that they might accept her views. In paragraph eight Malala
refers the names of nine famous leaders of the various communities of the world; Mohammad
(SAW), Jesus Christ, Lord Buddhaa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, Gandhi Jee, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. The speaker refers all these names and
reinforces the audience of this speech by mentioning that all these spiritual, political and
historical personalities were motivated by faith.

Malala uses the names of the leaders of all religions of the world, Muslims, Christian,
Buddhist, Hindu, Communist etc to appeal the authority. She uses these references to motivate
the audience to accept her views, ideas and notion of love and education. Malala rejects the
authority of Talibans by mentioning,
“The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of

education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of
the voice of women frightens them…”
Here Malala explicitly rejects the authority of extremists through antirrhesis. Antirrhesis
mean to reject some prevailing authority.
When Malala mentions the nine great personalities of the world she consciously realizes
the audience that she is the representative of these personalities, she is the torch bearer of the
creed of truth. She is the representative of those who are the protector of the social and moral
values, rights of the innocents, and the voice of those who are never heard. Thus she succeeds to
present her voice creditable to all the nations of the world.
Use of Pronouns
According to Alvi & Baseer (2011) the method of counting words to trace and reveal
hidden meaning is very popular. Analysis of pronouns provides access to find out factors that are
important. Beard (2000, cited in Alvi & Baseer, 2011) The use and analysis of the first person
singular pronoun “I” and fist person plural pronoun “We” provide deep understanding about the
speaker and his / her perception to be perceived by the audience. Malala has frequently used first
person singular pronoun “I” that shows that she wants her audience to realize her contributions
for the world and at the same moment she does not let the audience to be unmindful of her that
indicates her narcissism. The use of first person singular pronoun “I” shows that the speaker likes
self-important and egocentric attitude Malala uses singular pronoun ‘I” to get the credit of her
struggle, strive, fight and sacrifice. The speakers use this singular pronoun to get the credit of
their struggle.
Malala has also used plural pronoun ‘we”. According to Alvi & Baseer(2011) use of plural
pronoun distributes the responsibility; it puts the responsibility also on the shoulders of the
audience when the circumstances are not favorable. This use of plural pronoun also narrows
down the gulf between the speaker and the audience or the writer and the reader.
Consequently, its use promotes mutual support and reduces a sense of indifference among the
audience when the speaker uses plural pronoun “we”. Infact he / she efforts to realize the
audience that, the speaker is not separate from them or the problem demands integration and
congregation. The audience develop a sense of pride and acquaintance on being involved in
the matter. The audience begins to join their voice with the voice of the audience. They feel

that the speaker and the audience belong to the same tribe / community that consequently
strengthen and evokes ethos.
The following table presents the results of the pronoun analysis:
Table: The use of the Pronouns
Pronoun used Occurrences total % of used

pronouns(116)
I 27 31.32
Me 11 12.76
1st person
singular
My 20 23.2
Myself 01 1.16
2nd person You 06 6.96
We 26 30.16
Us 9 10.44
1stperson
plural
Our 14 16.24
Ourselves 01 1.16
Total 116
The percentages significantly show that Malala has frequently used the first person
singular pronoun “I” (31.32%). This indicates that the speaker deliberately focuses on her
personality. She needs the credit of her struggle and fight against power. Thus ethos strengthens
the credibility of Malala. This credibility enthuses the audience to accept the views of Malala
true and creditable. Malala provides the proof of her credibility and struggle from the very
beginning of her speech. She refers to the great personalities of the universe. In the very
beginning of her speech she expresses her desire to present a gratitude to the audience. She

makes the audience realize her struggle, this technique skillfully works and she is given
acceptance by the audience.
Pathos Applied
Pathos is the appeal to the emotions of the listener. This is one of the three modes of
persuasion in rhetoric. This is the part of Aristotle’s teachings in rhetoric. The speaker appeals to
the emotions of the audience through a variety of ways; by using a metaphor or story telling or
by applying emotional contents in speech during writing. Pathos is applied by the speaker when
he / she want to appeal the ethical judgment of the audience. Malala uses her skills of rhetoric for
the creation of the audience pathos. Although this sample speech is an informative speech, it is
really a possessive speech. Malala applies all sorts of traditional figures of speech in her speech.
The persuasion in this speech, she is doing, is that she is the savior of women, children and peace
loving people of the whole world, Taliban are the evil and enemy of the world. To appeal to the
pathos of the audience Malala applies the technique of synonymies; a technique in which speaker
uses several synonyms together to emphasize and explain the topic of speech. This can also be
called as a kind of repetition that strengthens the credibility of the speaker. Malala efforts her
best to arouse the emotional force of the audience in her favour. Malala uses a galaxy of
carefully chosen words that help her arousing the emotional force of the audience. She applies
various fanciful phrases and clauses that create a beautiful attractive mental picture. This is a
human nature that if someone wishes to save and protect the coming generations of theirs. They
develop a sense of association with him or her. The same case is with the speech of Malala, she
shows the audience a dream. A dream of prosperous non indolent and gender free society, a
society where there is no terrorism and violence, a society where the girls are neither killed nor
prohibited to get education. Malala creates an imagery of an educated, non violent and tolerated
society without the threats of Taliban. Malala introduces an imagery of utopia where there is
peace and love, where there is no fear of Taliban, where there girls are free to go to school,
where there women are treated equally with men, where there children are protected nor shot by
Taliban.
Malala does not disconnect the dream, she continues creating mental pictures, she
forcefully repeats the similar message, similar dream, similar word and the similar proposal. She
becomes the wishes of marginalized people, the voice of the un heard people, the dream of the
hopeless people, the remedy for Taliban victimized people and hope for the disappointed people.
She mentions their snatched right of education, occupied dreams, snubbed and suppressed
voices, threatened future of their next coming generations and fear of Talibanization i.e.,
extremism. She uses the imagery of innocent students who are killed by Taliban. This imagery
reflects the atrocities that are faced by the innocent lovers of peace and education. She applies
the imagery of an innocent girl who is shot by Taliban. This crates pathos and appeals to the
emotions of the audience. She uses the imagery of children who are forcefully pushed into child

labor; this evokes the audiences’ emotions. She uses all these technical tools to arouse the
emotions of the audience.
Malala repeats the same words in different ways.

Their right to live in peace
Their right to be treated with dignity
Their right to equality of opportunity
Their right to be educated
She repeats their proposition through different styles. Thus she uses synonymies to
strengthen her message and to exhort the element of pathos. Paragraph ten describes the story of
an innocent boy in the school of Malala. Who was asked by a journalist, why are the Taliban
against education. Malala narrates the story of this boy to enhance her reliability and to arouse
the emotions of the audience. Malala further describes about fourteen innocent medical students
in recent attack in Quetta, many female teachers and polio workers in Khyber Pukhtoon Khaw
and Fata and many others who have been killed by Taliban. All of these illustrations appeal the
audience’s love for compassion and need of their dear ones. The mention of all these losses
reminds the audience of their relatives who have been snatched by terrorists from them. They
also realize that these extremists are the cause of the destruction and loss of their family fabric.
This emotional force supports Malala’s agenda against Talibanization , inequality, illiteracy and
violence.
Paragraphs nine and ten illustrate the use of describe by Malala. Description is used by a
speaker to deliberately describe the consequence of on event or act that ultimately arouses the
emotions of the audience or the readers. Malala describes about the acts of Taliban who are non
stage actors and are continuously destroying the community and exploiting the innocent people
on the name of religion, Allah and Pashtun society,
“……..The terrorists are misusing the name of Islam and Pshtun

society for their own personal benefits”.
Here, Malala very vividly unveils the real faces of Taliban and their intentions. She warns
us to understand the situation and the acts of Taliban. This explicit and clear cut description
creates an imagery that is frightening and disappointing. Paragraph eleven vividly presents an
imagery of women and children in India, Nigeria and Afghanistan where they are victim of
poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights. The concern of the
speaker for every child and every woman of the world makes the speaker creditable and
trustworthy that consequently wins the speaker the emotional support of the audience. Paragraph
ten provides hope to the audience. Malala speaks in the uplifting rhetoric of hope and dreams,

………Pakistan is peace-loving democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their

daughters and sons. And Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. Islam says that
it is not only each child’s right to get education, rather it is their duty and responsibility.”
The hope Malala gives to the audience is the hope in the ideology of Islam, the ideology
of Pakistan and the Pakistani people as a nation, as a Millat in the ideology o Islam that is the
religion of peace and brotherhood and in the ideology of Pakistan that stresses upon faith, unity
and discipline which are far beyond terrorism and extremism. This uplifting rhetoric of hope
wins audience’s pathos for Malala and Pakistan.
1. Paragraph twenty one indicates that Malala has forcefully applied another figure of rhetoric,
Aganactesis. Aganactesis means; an exclamation proceeding from deep indignation
(http://rhetoric/byu.edu.cited in Alvi & Baseer, 2011). Malala, in this paragraph uses “if” and
“then” which can be described linguistically as indicative of warning. Malala in a sorrowful
tone invites the communities of the world to understand and to realize the negative
consequences of extremism, lack of education, violence and poverty.
…………and if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the
weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness”.
Paragraph fifteen and fourteen indicate toward the use of another figure of pathos,
“A deal that goes against dignity of women and their rights in

unacceptable”.
“Dear sisters and brothers, now it is time to speak up”.
Malala vividly declares that if the leaders of the world and communities make any such
deals with Taliban and extremists that are against the dignity of women, these deals will not be
acceptable. If the world leaders come up to dialogue with Taliban on the negation of the dignity
of women i.e., education for women, liberty and freedom to express, it will lead to destruction
and violation of the basic rights of women. Thus Malala very wisely and indirectly warns and
discourages the leaders of the world to dialogue with Taliban on the cost of women dignity is an
attractive and adequate example of the use of apagroesis. In the following paragraph Malal’s
tone is suggestive.
“So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism and let us pick
up our books and pens. They are our must power full weapons”.
Malala applies antonomasia a figure of pathos in almost all of her speech. Antonomasia can be
defined as: substituting a descriptive phrase for a proper name, or substituting a proper name for
a quality associated with it (http://rhetoric.byu.edu/cited in Alvi & Baseer, 2011) Prophet of
mercy, world leaders extremists etc are the illustration of antonomasia. Here, Malala uses world
leaders for peace lovers and the social activists and extremists for Taliban and terrorists. Malala

has applied this figure of pathos to engulf the gap between the speaker and the audience. This
figure of pathos creates a group intimacy.
From paragraph thirteen to the last paragraph Malala directly suggests and invites the
people to struggle for peace, tolerance, rights of women and children, education for all, anti
campaigns against terrorism. This direct advice of avoiding extremists’ activities, violating basic
women rights, implementing misinterpreted laws of religion and restricting from sticking
unreasonably and blindly to a specific religion, cast, creed and ideology is a forceful figure of
pathos for persuading the audience.
Logos Applies
Logos is used in philosophy, analytical psychology rhetoric and religion. Logos is called
the logic and argument of the speech. The use of this term can be treed back into western
philosophy. Heraclitus (ca 535-475 BCE) uses this term for western philosophy. This term was
used for the source and fundamental order of the cosmos. Later Aristotle applied this term to
rational discourse.
Logos is a logical appeal and it is general used for describing facts and figures that are
helpful for the speaker to support his/her topic(http://www.mountainman.au/essence/aristotles
modes of persuasion in rhetoric.htm). Paragraph eight contains logos. Her speech connects
religion, education, social and human rights and extremists. She addresses all these communities
very logically. She presents her views in favour of education that can enrich both the religious
and social aspects of human personality. She is not unmindful of the importance of education of
women. Throughout the speech she stresses upon the importance of tolerance, respect for others
and dignity of women. She says Taliban should understand others without bias and they must
realize their misconception about Islam and the world beyond. She invites Taliban to understand
the real Islam, the real light and the real education. She also focuses on engulfing the class
between Taliban and the rest of the world. She expresses her own moderate and civilized
remarks for educating the children of Taliban that reveals that she is in favour to bridge the gap
between Taliban and the world. She wins the favour of the audience quite logically by pointing
out the evils of modern world and her role to solve these problems. Malala supports her
arguments through logical reasoning. She uses logical styles oratory. She uses a variety of
figures of logos in her speech to enjoin the audience to eliminate illiteracy, poverty and
terrorism, to pave the way for education, for tolerance, for development and for harmony. She
addresses not only the Talibans but to the civilized communities of the world as well. Malala
applies Antithesis a figure of logos. In paragraph eight,
“Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness. We
realize the importance o voice when we are silenced. In the same way, we were in Swat, the
north of Pakistan, we realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns”.

Light and darkness, voice and silence and pens, books and guns, these are the examples
of antithesis that has been applied by Malala to present her case logically. She uses contrast to
create logic. She further uses this foundation to create an analogy:
We realized the importance of pens and books when we saw guns”. Malala use sorites a
figure of logos to support her previously established arguments.
Sorites is used when a speaker wants to establish a chain of claims and reasons”
(http://rhetoric/byu.edu)
“They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. This
is why they killed in innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they
kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day, because they are
afraid of change and the equality that we will bring to our society”.
In the aforesaid passage she supports her earlier argument that extremists are afraid of
education. She constructs her argument on the basis of previously mentioned logic.
We find an attractive example of epicrisis, in the speech of Malala. Epicrisis is used by a

speaker when he / she quotes a certain passage and makes the comment upon it.
“The wise saying, the pen is mightier than the sword”. It is true. The extremists are
afraid of pens and books. The power of education frightens them”.
Malala has applied epicrisis. She quotes a famous maxim; the pen is mightier than the
sword”. She uses this quote to support her arguments she skillfully uses this quote in her favour
and supports her argument that power of education frightens them.
Malala continues supporting her thesis with the help of an anecdote,
“And I remember there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist: why are
the Taliban against education?” he answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said: A
Talib doesn’t know what is written inside this book”.
Malala has applied Adinoeta, a figure of logos. When a speaker wants to give a subtle
meaning that is hidden just beneath the surface of the statement. She conveys a subtle massage
that if the leaders of the world fail to eliminate illiteracy and poverty, they will fail to pave the
way for education, for tolerance, for development, for harmony and illiterate, unequally treated,
unheard and the poor are more likely to become Taliban. She inculcates the subtle message that
the sword of education can be used to defeat Taliban. In her heroic speech she has imparted the
message.
“……..weakness, fear and hopelessness died strength, power and

courage was born”.

She highlights epic struggle, strength, power and courage that can defeat weakness, fear
and hopelessness.
Conclusion
This speech shows Malala’s epic struggle nobility, dignity and compassion. She is the
true face of Pakistan, Islam and Pushtuns. She is fully aware of the techniques that can persuade
the audience to listen her she delivers a speech that proves a momentous push for change. This
speech is a masterpiece of passion, emotion, skill, incredible belief and daring hope. Malala’s
speech excels in oratory and substance. But we must remember we need to go a long way to
liberate our next coming generations from extremism, poverty, illiteracy and above all claws of
Taliban.
References
Alvi, S. D., & Baseer, A. (2011). An Analysis of Barack Obama's Speech Keynote address at the 2004
Democratic National Covention. Language In India11 (10),, , 310-335.
Alvi, S. D., & Baseer, A. (2012). Application of Aristotle’s Ethos, pathos, and logos on Barrack
Obama’s speech. Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business , 3 (9), 593-
616.
J.P.Gee, S. M. (1992). Discourse Analysis, the Handbook of qualitative Research in Education. (S. M.
3. J.P.Gee, Ed.) Inc: J.P.Gee, S. Michaels and M.C.O Connor (1992) Discourse Analysis, the Handbook
of qualitative Research in Education eAcademic press.
Halliday,M.A.K(1994).An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold
Naz, S., Alvi, S. D., & Baseer, A. (2012). Political Language of Benazir Bhutto:A Transitivity
Analysis of Her Speech 'Democratization in Pakistan'. Interdisciplinary Journal Of
Contemporary Research In Business , 4 (8), 125-141.
Siddiqui. (2013). Malal's Speech. Lahore: Associated Press Of Pkistan.
Wang, J. (2010). A Critical Discourse Analysis of Barack Obama's Speeches. Journal of Language
Teaching And Research , 1 (3), 254-261.
http://www.mountainman.com
http://sixmilevillage.wordpress.com
http://www.thesun.co.uk
http://www.plato.stunford.edu/)
http://www.rhetoric.bgu.edu/)
http://www.languageinIndia.com

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International Journal of English and Education 105

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

ANALYSIS OF MALALA YOUSAF ZAI’S SPEECH:

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

Discourse Analysis: Theoretical Underpinnings

There are four major assumptions behind discourse analysis:

2. The discourse of a speaker, who is member of a community, is shaped by cultural,

Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character when

(Aristotle, Rhetoric 350 BCE)

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ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

……….It is an honor for me that I am wearing a shawl of late

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ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

… dear brothers and sisters

“And then, out of that silence came, thousands of voices.”

Malala continues her story,

Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

“This is the compassion that I have learned form Mohammad, the

“And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my mother

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ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

………”I fully support Mr. Ban ki Moon the secretary general in

…. “Malala day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman,

“I am just one of them. So here I stand, one girl amongst many.”

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ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

“The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of

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ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

The following table presents the results of the pronoun analysis:

Table: The use of the Pronouns

Pronoun used Occurrences total % of used

2nd person You 06 6.96

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ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

Malala repeats the same words in different ways.

“……..The terrorists are misusing the name of Islam and Pshtun

Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

………Pakistan is peace-loving democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their

“A deal that goes against dignity of women and their rights in

Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

We find an attractive example of epicrisis, in the speech of Malala. Epicrisis is used by a

Malala continues supporting her thesis with the help of an anecdote,

“……..weakness, fear and hopelessness died strength, power and

Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014

Copyright © International Journal of English and Education | www.ijee.org

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