On July 22, 2013, Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani woman, delivered a powerful speech to the United Nations regarding the universal right to an education. Yousafzai was tragically shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to attend school; however, she did not die, and she emerged from the travesty stronger and more determined than ever to advocate education for all people, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or any other distinguishing characteristic. Yousafzai’s message alone was powerful; however, its delivery was strengthened further through the effective use of various rhetorical techniques and strategies. Throughout her speech on education, Yousafzai interweaves all three major appeals, ethos, pathos, and logos, to establish her credibility, humanize ongoing tragedies, and unite everyone in support of universal education, respectively.
At the beginning of her speech, Yousafzai uses ethos to establish her credibility as a speaker. Establishing credibility from the onset is crucial; if an audience does not perceive the speaker as credible, then the speaker will be unable to persuade the audience that his or her message is credible. Therefore, Yousafzai integrates ethos into her speech by beginning humbly, thanking those who have helped her and asserting, “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.” In other words, Yousafzai is delivering this speech not solely on her behalf, but on the behalf of countless individuals who do not have their own voice. Yousafzai further underscores the appeal to ethos through repetition, specifically when she states, “I speak – not for myself, but for all girls and boys.” By insisting that everyone shares common ground, including herself, Yousafzai’s subsequent appeal to pathos is even more compelling.
Throughout her speech, Yousafzai integrates appeals to pathos to humanize ongoing tragedy, beginning with her own personal story. Specifically, Yousafzai states that the Taliban shot her and her friends on their way to school, thinking “that the bullets would silence [them].” Envisioning innocent schoolgirls shot by terrorists certainly caught the attention of numerous individuals throughout the world, and Yousafzai parlayed this attention into a painting a much broader picture of the reality that countless other young people experienced and continue to experience. However, though she paints a broad picture, she includes specific details that constitute this picture. For example, she recalls the suffering of women and children in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria, demonstrating her capacity to feel compassion for people of all backgrounds. This globalized, inclusive perspective naturally aligns with her appeal to logos.
Yousafzai effectively incorporates logos in her speech to unite as many people as possible in favor of universal education for all individuals. Through using specific references to diverse individuals, Yousafzai ensures that she can resonate with as broad a base as possible. She fully understands that different religions and different historical figures will speak more powerfully than others to different people, and she ensures that she incorporates a diverse array of references. For instance, Yousafzai asserts that she has no desire to take revenge against the Taliban due to the compassion she’s learned “from Muhammad-the Prophet of Mercy, Jesus Christ, and Lord Buddha,” and she wishes to follow “the legacy of change” left behind by “Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.” These concrete references strengthen the likelihood of Yousafzai’s ultimate purpose for her speech: for everyone to be “united for the cause of education.”
Throughout her speech on education, Yousafzai effectively integrates ethos, pathos, and logos. She uses ethos to establish her credibility as a speaker and strengthen the chance of her message being well-received. After establishing her credibility, she uses pathos to humanize ongoing human suffering, beginning with her own personal experience and expanding it to include the suffering of countless other people. Lastly, she effectively uses logos by referencing specific, diverse religions and inspirational individuals in an effort to influence as broad an audience as possible. When evaluating the effectiveness of her speech, Yousafzai’s call to action no longer seems impossible: “So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”
- Yousafzai, Malala. “United Nations Speech on Education.” United Nations, 22 Jul. 2013. http://www.un.org
