Dr Mark’s The Meaning in a Nutshell
Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb, I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban (2013)
The text by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb, I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban (2013) provides an account of recent tumultuous, war-ravaged Pakistani history that is centred around the struggles of the family of the teenage political activist Malala, and her equally politically active father, to promote their twin causes of universal education (especially for girls) and of peace for their homeland of the Swat Valley in north-western Pakistan. Due to the father’s role in providing coeducational education, and both Malala and her father’s dedicated political activism, they ran into determined and violent opposition from the Islamic fundamentalist and jihadist Taliban as it extended its local influence and control. This culminated in the assassination attempt on Malala on 9 October 2012 that delivered her to prominence on the world stage.
The text celebrates and promotes Malala as a modest yet determined hero who shies from the accolades and awards she received (which included the Nobel Peace Prize) and remains unflinching in her promotion of her political causes. The text celebrates her as an Islamic feminist who is devoted to both to achieving her own education and to promoting the rights of all girls to an education in an Islamic country that often discriminates against this. The text also celebrates her promotion of peace in a part of the world that is torn by religious and ethnic strife.
The text also celebrates political activism as a worthy pursuit and draws attention to what one girl can achieve in horrendous and challenging circumstances. Malala drew enormous media and political attention to her causes and helped to establish the Malala Foundation that seeks to provide education in Third World nations where educational opportunities are limited, as well as draw attention to the plight of refugees, especially the children who have been denied educational opportunities due to the impact of war.
The courageous resistance of Malala and her father eventually resulted in the attempted assassination by the Taliban of the fifteen year old activist for peace and girls’ education rights, which generated massive global outrage, especially in the West. However, Pakistanis remained as divided over this issue as their country remains divided over violent religious and ethnic disputes, over which side to take in the War on Terror, and over the impact of the West on their politics and way of life, especially in the face of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and campaigns to impose Sharia law.
Student resources by Dr Mark Lopez
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The purpose of the concise notes of Dr Mark’s The Meaning in a Nutshell is to provide much needed help to students seeking to unlock the meaning of the texts with which they have to deal. (More elaborate notes are provided in lessons as part of my private tutoring business.)
Subject: I am Malala meaning, I am Malala themes, I am Malala analysis, I am Malala notes