A Credibility Analysis Of Malala’s Riposte To Taliban Militants Essay Examples

Public oratory skills continue to permeate our daily life. From political to religious and academic circles, public speaking occupies a central position in public communication. Public speaking helps people to put forward ideas, and enhance social change within particular social circles. As such, an inquiry into the art of public speaking is a step in the right direction. The credibility of the speaker is crucial for the realization of the intended goal of a speech.

Brief description of Malala’s speech

The preliminary part of Malala’s speech demonstrates decorum of respect for the delegates. Malala began her speech by saluting the main guests, thus observing the required protocol. In addition, she appealed to the intellect of her listeners by alluding to particular facts as to the extent of terrorist brutalism. For instance, she gave the example of the destruction of schools in Nigeria. In addition, Malala’s concluding remarks demonstrated a firm and spirited appeal to her audience. She ended by making a call to all the stakeholders to promote the education of the girl-child in the world (The Full Text, 2013).
Malala seems to have aptly balanced the three components of rhetorical stance. These are pathos; ethos; and logos. Pathos is the ability of an orator to capture and address an audience based on their peculiarity and interests. On the other hand, ethos connotes the personal character of the speaker having observed the ethical tenets of good speech. Logos involves the speaker providing supporting evidence in the speech (Horne, 1988).

Malala’s profile, in a nutshell

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. She is a blogger and a women and education activist. She is renowned for her efforts as an activist for women and girl child education. She has won various awards, such as Sakharov prize, in line with her efforts. She also received the 2014 Nobel Peace prize for her clamor for the rights to education of all children (Malala Yousafzai, 2015). She was once a victim of radical militant attacks by extremists in her country. She was shot dead by terrorists and left to die (The Full Text, 2013).

Credibility check (its fairness, trust, dependability, honesty, expertise)

Malala demonstrated a spirit of selflessness. She said that Malala Day was not her’s. That it was a day for all people, both boys and girls, men and women who have championed and continued to clamor for the rights of humankind. She described it as a day for those who are in the struggle for peace, equality, and education. Moreover, Malala asserted that she was not speaking for herself but for millions of other people. She was representing those who have fallen into the ruthless hands of terrorist and cannot speak for themselves (The Full Text, 2013). This spirit of selflessness served a great deal in bringing out a glimpse of charisma in her speech. As well, it added weight to her words, thus, helping establish her credibility (Horner, 1988).
Her appreciation for the support from well-wishers and UN during her time in hospital reflects honest gratitude. In addition, this gesture shows her commitment to the spirit of charity. Malala demonstrated a strong will to continue pursuing her ambitions and dreams despite her experience of Taliban’s attack. Additionally, she demonstrated a non-revengeful and non-violent spirit, which she claims she had inherited from people in history. She names Prophet Mohammed as the prophet of mercy, Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus Christ as her models of peace (The Full Text, 2013).
In summary, Malala’s speech acted as a stir-up to action. It managed to give the picture of the state of terrorism and its effects quite vividly. The analysis of Malala’s speech shows that she observed the three components of speech, namely, pathos, ethos, and logos. It is, for this reason, prudent for anyone engaging in speech making to take a keen note of these elements.

References

Horner, W.B. (1988). Rhetoric in the Classical tradition. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.
Malala Yousafzai. (2015). Retrieved on Feb 10, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai
The Full Text: Malala Yousafzai delivers defiant riposte to Taliban militants with Speech to the UN Assembly. (2013, July 12). The Independent.