1. Author’s Primary Claim and Summary of Main Points: Recent hurricanes, such as Harvey and Irma, have caused much political unrest among the American people.
• Hurricane Irma is one of 16 of the largest category 5 hurricanes that have hit the US
• The author shows an astronaut in space looking at the hurricanes hitting Florida, and hurricane Harvey’s effect on Texas.
• The phrase “Houston, you have a problem,” is a reference to the Apollo 13 expedition to the moon, where James Lovell called back to base and said “Houston, we have had a problem.”
2. Author’s Conclusion:
The author, Jos Collingnon, is making a humorous comment about the recent natural disasters hitting the United States. Collingnon does not make a stance or prove a point
…show more content…
From space, the earth is a smaller scale, and you can look at all of the storms at once. This puts a different perspective on the hurricanes. Similarly, the astronaut is saying, “Houston, you have a problem.” Collingnon is referring to two significant scenarios in United States history. First, he is referencing the Apollo 13 expedition to the moon, where James Lovell stated, “Ok Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Society has shifted this phrase to say, “Houston, we have a problem.” Often, people utter this phrase when they are in a predicament, and these hurricanes are definitely a “predicament.” Secondly, the pop culture phrase is ironic because of the recent hurricane, Hurricane Harvey, which devastated much of Texas— including Houston Texas. Thus making the phrase, “Houston, you have a problem,” more relatable to the situation. The cartoon specifically outlines the looming Hurricane Irma on the coast of Florida, and over the Caribbean countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico. The author’s goal was to show this disaster as a larger picture, rather than smaller, individual issues. The zoomed out map from space shows the overall view of the intensity of this disaster giving depth and urgency to the situation. However, there is one hurricane in this cartoon located at the top of the United States. Years ago, when Hurricane Carla hit Texas, the great lakes had a significant effect