Ecological concern and sustainability in the selected works of al gore

i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ECOLOGICAL CONCERN AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF AL GORE A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City, Philippines In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major in English by PHÙNG THI THU HA 2015 Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn i ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation entitled “ECOLOGICAL CONCERN AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF AL GORE” prepared and submitted by PHÙNG THỊ THU HÀ in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English has been examined and is recommended for Oral Examination MARIA LUISA A VALDEZ, Ph.D Adviser PANEL OF EXAMINERS Approved by the Committee on Oral Examination with a grade of _ DR MATILDA H DIMAANO Chairman DR AMADA G BANAAG Member DR FELIX M PANOPIO Member DR MYRNA G SULIT External Representative Accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English Comprehensive Examination: PASSED Date MATILDA H DIMAANO, Ph.D Dean, Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences ABSTRACT Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn ii iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Title: BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ECOLOGICAL CONCERN AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF AL GORE Author: Phùng Thị Thu Hà Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Major: English Year: 2015 Adviser: Maria Luisa A Valdez, Ph.D Summary This study analyzed the ecological concern and sustainability as embodied in the selected literary pieces of Al Gore pointing out the events and situations which show the teachings on ecological stewardship which may be drawn from the analysis that may benefit the Vietnamese students Likewise, this paper tries to present the reflections of the author on the environment that may be gleaned from the selections; the ecological concern reflected in the works in terms of respecting Earth and life and all its diversity, safeguarding Earth‟s regenerative capacities, caring for community life, and appreciating Earth‟s beauty and bounty; sustainability manifested in the selections with regard to environmental demands, social equity demands and economic demands; the literary devices used by Gore in unveiling the theme of Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn iii iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ecological concern and sustainability; and the literary approaches prevalent in the treatment of the selected works This study employed the qualitative method of research in analyzing ecological concern and sustainability in the representative literary works chosen Likewise, this analysis made use of the sociological and philosophical approaches as the bases for analysis In particular, he these approaches were supported by Ehrlich‟s and Raven‟s Society-Nature Coevolution Theory Likewise, the paper involved content analysis, which is a systematic technique in analyzing message content and message handling The data analysis in this research centered on pattern seeking and the extraction of meaning from Al Gore‟s selected literary narrative or image data The essential features in the treatment of materials were considered by the researcher in the conduct of this study The general rules cited by Stott (2014) as regards the seven standards a piece of literature should abide to in order to be considered literary guided in the selection of works under study The representative literary works of Al Gore entitled: Earth in the Balance and The Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It? were analyzed These books constituted the primary and twining sources of the study The said selections were chosen because of their correlation with the cited theme and subthemes Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn iv v THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Findings of the study revealed that Global waring is the greatest environmental threat of the present time that is reflected in Al Gore‟s literary works, Earth in the Balance and The Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It Global warming as a threat to health, communities, economy, and national security was presented therein as a result of men‟s activities without consideration to the effects to the environment Environmental concern may be gleaned from Gore‟s literary texts as manifested in his advocacy to protect the earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty To give deeper meanings on the concept of environmentalism and a logical framework to his works through language as well as to motivate the readers‟ imagination to visualize the characters, scenes and situations more clearly, Gore employed various literary devices in the selected literary pieces Environmental sustainability is also manifested by Gore‟s selected works as manifested in his advocacy to reconcile environmental, social equity and economic demands of the society The representative literary works of Gore may be considered as a sociophilosophical document showing the environmental issues of the times Finally, the Vietnamese students can glean teachings on ecological concern and sustainability from the representative literary works of Gore and imbibe his spirit and carry forward his legacy by practicing daily the pro-environment Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn v vi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines principle The new Vietnamese students are certainly at hand, with literature and thoughts intertwined through the identified literary advocate of the environment Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn vi vii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ACKNOWLEDGMENT The researcher desires to express her thankful appreciation to those who helped and inspired her towards the completion of this paper First and foremost, she wishes to thank the Thai Nguyen University and the Batangas State University for giving her the opportunity to finish this undertaking under their International Academic Cooperation Program Dr Dang Kim Vui, the President of the Thai Nguyen University, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Tuan Anh, Assoc Prof Dr Dang Xuan Binh, Prof Dr Nguyen The Hung, the former Directors of the TNU International Training and Development Center, Dr Hoang Thi Bich Thao, the current Director of TNU ITDC, and Dr Phan Quang The, the Dean of the Faculty of International Training, Thai Nguyen University of Technology, for their motivation and wisdom that helped hasten the completion of this study Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez, the Dean of Colleges and Head of the Graduate School of the Batangas State University ARASOF Nasugbu Campus, the researcher‟s dissertation adviser, for her constant encouragement, commitment, and patience which motivated the researcher to finish this study Dr Matilda H Dimaano, the Chairman of the Panel of Examiners, for her Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn vii viii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines thorough dissection and candid remarks that drew up the essential and relevant dimensions in this research Dr Amada G Banaag, Dr Felix M Panopio, and Dr Myrna G Sulit, the Members of the Panel of Examiners, for their valuable suggestions and constructive criticism which motivated her to analyze conscientiously all the inputs during the conduct of this study Dr Remedios P Magnaye, the Recording Secretary and Ms Le Quynh Anh, the ITDC Administrative Staff, for their words of encouragement and kind gestures The authors whose works were included in this study, for their wisdom in every page of this dissertation The researcher‟s friends, all of whom generously gave their time, advice, and prayers They made her realize the value of truth and friendship The researcher is also very grateful for the wholehearted support and love that her parents, her husband, Le Hong Thai and children, Le Dinh Long and Le Ha Vy, have extended during the writing process Phùng Thị Thu Hà DEDICATION Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn viii ix THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines To my ever dearest husband, Le Hong Thai and loving children, Le Dinh Long and Le Ha Vy, Phùng Thị Thu Hà TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn ix x THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………… … i APPROVAL SHEET …………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………… iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT ………………………………………… vii DEDICATION …………………………………………………… ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………… x LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………… xii CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction ………………………………………….… Statement of the Problem ………………………….… 10 Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study … 12 Significance of the Study ……………………………… 15 II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature ………………………………… 18 Research Literature ………………………….………… 59 Synthesis ……………………………………………… 70 Theoretical Framework ……………………………… 74 Conceptual Framework …………… ……………… 79 Số hóa Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn x 331 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Orr, D.R 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by Al Gore An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It? is a 2006 book by Al Gore released in conjunction with the film An Inconvenient Truth The book is based on Gore's lecture tour on the topic of global warming this book elaborates upon points offered in the film He methodically lays out the probable consequences of rising temperatures: powerful and more destructive hurricanes fueled by warmer ocean waters (2005, the year of Katrina, was not just a record year for hurricanes but also saw unusual flooding in places like Europe and China); increased soil moisture evaporation, which means drier land, less productive agriculture and more fires; and melting ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, which would lead to rising ocean levels, which in turn would endanger low-lying regions of the world from southern Florida to large portions of the Netherlands Mr Gore does a cogent job of explaining how global warming can disrupt delicate ecological balances, resulting in the spread of pests like the 342 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines pine beetle, whose migration used to be slowed by colder winters; increases in the range of disease vectors including mosquitoes, ticks and fleas, and the extinction of a growing number of species 343 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Earth in the Balance by Al Gore Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit is a 1992 book written by Al Gore, published in June 1992, shortly before he was elected Vice President in the 1992 presidential election Known by the short title Earth in the Balance, the book explains the world's ecological predicament and describes a range of policies to deal with the most pressing problems It includes a proposed "Global Marshall Plan" to address current ecological issues Written while his son was recovering from a serious accident, Earth in the Balance became the first book written by a sitting U.S Senator to make the New York Times bestseller list since John F Kennedy's Profiles in Courage CURRICULUM VITAE 344 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam PERSONAL INFORMATION BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Name Date of Birth Place of Birth Age Nationality Home Address : Phung Thi Thu Ha : December 8, 1975 : Yen Bai City, Vietnam : 40 years old : Vietnamese : Group 12 Phu Xa Ward Thai Nguyen City Vietnam Gmail Address : thuha@tnut.edu.vn Religion : None Sex : Female Name of Spouse : Le Hong Thai Name of Children : Le Dinh Long Le Ha Vy EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND Doctor of Philosophy Major in English International Academic Cooperation Program Between the Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam and the Batangas State University, Philippines (2015) Master of Arts Major in English Hanoi University, Vietnam Bachelor of Arts in Teaching English Thai Nguyen University of Technology Thai Nguyen City, Vietnam WORK EXPERIENCES 345 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines November 2006 : Faculty Member, Foreign Languages Thai Nguyen University of Education 2006 - up to the Present : Member International Training Faculty Thai Nguyen University of Technology ... Philippines ecological concern and sustainability; and the literary approaches prevalent in the treatment of the selected works This study employed the qualitative method of research in analyzing ecological. .. demands; the literary devices used by Gore in unveiling the theme of ecological concern and sustainability; and the literary approaches prevalent in the treatment of the selected works and its... demands, social equity demands and economic demands; the literary devices used by Gore in unveiling the theme of ecological concern and sustainability; and the literary approaches prevalent in the treatment