To find the area of the whole figure, we can divide it into two rectangles, the smaller rectangle has dimensions of 5 inches by 8 inches.
[tex]A_{small}=5in\times8in=40in^2[/tex]The bigger rectangle has dimensions of 9 inches by 15 inches.
[tex]A_{bigger}=9in\times15in=135in^2[/tex]Then, we add
[tex]A=40+135=175in^2[/tex]