Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. “The Taliban” is the umbrella term for the armed military organization that emerged in the 1990s, currently operating at the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. For the majority of the 2000s, the Taliban has been in the news. What is this group best known for and what are their core beliefs? What is the relationship between the Taliban in Pakistan and the Taliban in Afghanistan?

Teaching Suggestion: With this prompt, take the opportunity to allow students to share what they already know about the Taliban’s control in the Middle East. Simultaneously, you should also acknowledge how complex the topic of power is in this region, and how a brief discussion on the Taliban barely scratches the surface of the full scope of the issue. Yet a general understanding of the Taliban’s power in the Middle East approaches how Malala’s narrative becomes a story of the Individual Versus Society controlled by the Taliban.

• The BBC’s “Who are the Taliban?” gives a general overview of the Taliban’s rise to power in the Middle East, particularly their role in Afghanistan.