Sunday, October 28, 2012

The Guardian: Hurricane Sandy barrels towards the US

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/25/hurricanes-sandy-us-east-coast/print
This article from the UK provides a fascinating perspective of the incoming Hurricane Sandy approaching the east coast early this week. It summarizes a lot of the outside factors that may intensify this storm, such as the jet stream heading north and the cold front slowly moving south. Although the storm is only predicted to be categorized as a tropical storm by the time it hits places like Philadelphia and New York, the author continuously suggests to keep the uncertainty in mind while keeping track of the storm.
Harry J Enten, writer for the Guardian and author of the article, is a graduate from Dartmouth and has interned at NBC. In addition, the Guardian is a major worldwide newspaper as well as in the UK.
The context of this article is the potential danger of Hurricane Sandy and perhaps the ongoing discussion of climate change, since the author opens with a comparison to Hurricane Irene, a storm that hit the same area at around the same time last year. The two purposes of this article are to inform his audience of readers about the hurricane in the US and advise readers that are residents of that area to stay safe.
In order to accomplish his goals, Enten appropriately uses logical evidence through facts to support his argument. For example, he states that in comparison to Hurricane Isaac, which at its lowest pressure earlier this year was 968 millibars, Hurricane Sandy has the potential to reach 935 millibars. This means the storm will hit harder and in a larger area.
Enten successfully accomplished his goals because he used facts and comparisons to support very sweeping statements about Sandy. This ensures to the readers that the author is not just using hyperbole to rile them up, but actually cares for their safety in this treacherous storm.
  

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