I'm not sure this is really suitable for a Q&A answer - it is one of those questions which looks simple, but takes a "lightbulb" moment: the ones where suddenly it all makes sense and you wonder why you ever thought it was hard. Unfortunately, pointers and malloc are "lightbulb" ideas, and as such are difficult to explain without pictures, loads of bits of paper, and a check every couple of minutes for a blank expression and glazed over eyes...
Wiki may help: it covers the stuff you need to know, but I suspect it was written by someone who understands them well - probably far too well for a beginner to follow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointer_(computing)[
^]
In essence though, a pointer is a variable which tell you where something else is. A bit like the index in a book or a set of links in a web page: you look up the item you want to know about, and it tells you where it is. The index or list of links is not the item you are looking for, it is just a way of finding it.
Malloc returns the address of the object you asked for: the URL if you like. This gets saved in a pointer so that you can get to it again when you need it.
If you need more, try to read the wiki stuff. If that doesn't help, talk to your tutor - at least he can see how confused you are getting!