Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"

Paper Summary:

This paper offers a rhetorical analysis on Al Gore's documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth". The author discusses the documentary in detail, breaking down the language and the images through analysis to reveal what might actually be seen beyond the rhetoric. The paper compares the information and data from "An Inconvenient Truth" with that of other similar documentaries and concludes that the film takes a multi-layered approach designed to broaden knowledge in memorable and easily understood terms. The author praises Al Gore's doxic approach in bringing the issue of global warming out of the difficult to understand political and scientific arena and into the realm of public discourse, but also argues with Al Gore's statements that natural evolution can be stopped.

Outline:
The Planet Earth
The Scientist and Mentors
Introducing the Opposing Authority and Science
More Rhetoric
Emotional Rhetoric
Environmental Rhetoric
Impact on Public
The Science
Conclusion
Works Cited

From the Paper:

"It is not the first time that a controversial documentary film has won an Academy Award, nor is it the first time that a politician has harnessed the Hollywood public relations mechanism as represented by the film stars like those stars backing Al Gore's documentary, to promote both their ideology and themselves as politicians. Hillary Clinton did it with her book, It Takes a Village (1996), which won a Golden Globe Award, and was the first time a book received such a Golden Globe. It was perhaps Clinton's which served as impetus for the Gore documentary, which, like Clinton's book, is replete with political and social rhetoric such that might cause some to wonder whether Gore's documentary is a political campaign, or a sincere statement of concern on global warming."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Buell, Frederick. From Apocalypse to Way of Life: Environmental Crisis in the American Century, New York, New York, Taylor and Francis Books, Inc., 2003.
• Douglas, Richard. Growthism and the Green Backlash, The Political Quarterly, 78/4, October-December, 2007, 547-555.
• Durkin, Martin (dir). The Great Global Warming Swindle, film documentary, WAGtv, 2007.
• Guggenheim, Davids (dir). An Inconvenient Truth, film documentary, Lawrence Bender Productions, 2007.
• Harre, Rom, Brockmeier, Jens, and Mulhausler, Peter. Greenspeak: A Study of Environmental Discourse, Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications, Inc., 1999.

More papers on Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth":

• Essay # 143726 : "How Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth Has Changed America"
• Film Review # 121643 : "Impact of "An Inconvenient Truth"
• Analytical Essay # 136382 : "Global Warming and 'An Inconvenient Truth'"
• Film Review # 150170 : "An Inconvenient Truth" - A Film Analysis"

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