I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Malala’s mother gave up going to school because her cousins stayed at home.

• With regard to education, how is Malala different from her mother? (topic sentence)
• Consider Malala’s relationship to her peers. What effect do they have on her education?
• In your concluding sentences, explain how Malala’s stance on education contributes to the book’s larger discussion around the Individual Versus Society.

2. In Chapter 6, Malala talks about her profound connection to a TV show featuring a boy with a magic pencil.

• Why might the concept of a “magical pencil” have a larger meaning for Malala? (topic sentence)
• In what ways does the magical pencil relate to Malala and her family’s life?
• In your concluding sentences, explain how Malala’s connection to this TV show speaks to her belief that the Power of Words can change the world.

3. Throughout I Am Malala, the people all around Malala are silenced in various ways.

• What is the nature of the threats hanging over the people of Swat Valley and Pakistan, which causes them to be silent? (topic sentence)
• What is lost when the people of Swat Valley/Pakistan remain silent? By contrast, what is potentially lost by speaking up?
• In your concluding sentences, examine the sacrifices that Malala made when she used the Power of Words to speak up again the Taliban.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. As described in Chapter 3, Malala’s grandfather had limited support for his son (Malala’s father), both emotionally and financially. In contrast, Malala’s father fully supports her. Consider how acquiring knowledge, no matter the cost, is top priority for Malala and her father. How does her father’s support, particularly around her education, allow Malala to persevere?

2. Persistence and perseverance are recurring motifs throughout I Am Malala. What are the values Malala holds dear, which forces her to draw on her persistence/perseverance to defend those values? Aside from Malala, what other characters exhibit persistence/perseverance? In your conclusion, connect to the theme Individual Versus Society.

3. Malala is a young girl when she is targeted and shot by the Taliban—only 15 years old. Consider how her age and gender might impact how others view her and her fight for female education. Examine moments in the text when her age or gender help to amplify her words and also moments when her age and gender worked against her activism. In your conclusion, connect to the theme Power of Words.