User:DanaGhouse/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article

This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.

• Name of article: Allan Zullo
• Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
  • I found this article on a list of books under the WikiProject for Children's Literature. I browsed articles considered stub-class for an author or title I recognized so that I could practice recognizing what makes an article stub-class and how it could be expanded.

Lead

Guiding questions

• Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
• Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
• Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
• Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation

The lead focuses mostly on the books and series that Allan Zullo has written. It also includes a bit of information not present in the article, such as facts about his comic strip, location, and degree. Besides the lead, there is only one section of the article, a bibliography, so the lead is essentially working in place of article sections.

Content

Guiding questions

• Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
• Is the content up-to-date?
• Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Content evaluation

The article contains one section: a partial bibliography in a bulleted list organized by series. The bibliography does not include any details about books such as publication year, and it only links to other articles twice: once to the Haunted Kids series and once to co-author Bruce Nash. At least one title is outdated and has since been republished under a new name. There is nothing off-topic, but rather a lack of information.

Tone and Balance

Guiding questions

• Is the article neutral?
• Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
• Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
• Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation

This article is generally free of persuasion. However, the editor(s) do use a couple of words such as "gripping" and "hilarious" to describe books by Zullo. Another statement that comes close to bias is one saying what Zullo is "perhaps best known for." The editor suggests books I have never heard of in that statement, and I own multiple books by Zullo. Maybe the editor is right and those titles are well-known, in which case they could provide a citation for that claim. Zullo's books are represented more than any other creative works or information about the author.

Sources and References

Guiding questions

• Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
• Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
• Are the sources current?
• Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation

Most citations are for newspaper articles, likely book reviews; most newspaper citation do not link to the article or review, but to the Newpapers' Wikipedia articles instead. One citation is a permanent dead link. Aside from his birth date and select book titles, information about Zullo that is provided in the lead is not cited.

Organization

Guiding questions

• Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
• Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
• Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation

This article is not broken down into sections. The lead provides some information that is not present in the article. Sections could be created for early life or personal life as well as kinds of creative works: children's series, adult books, comics, desk calendars, etc. With everything in one long bulleted list in the same section, it is rather difficult to read. The lead is organized into short paragraphs which is helpful. The second sentence is a bit awkward. Text is not always formatted to indicate titles, and the author is sometimes referred to by first name only.

Images and Media

Guiding questions

• Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
• Are images well-captioned?
• Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
• Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation

There are no images in this article. I would like to see an image of the author at a minimum. Images of selected works such as a children's and adult title, a comic strip, and a desk calendar would be even better.

Checking the talk page

Guiding questions

• What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
• How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
• How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation

This article is part of four WikiProjects: biography, Illinois, journalism, and children's literature. It is rated stub-class and is marked low importance for two of the WikiProjects. There are no discussions on the Talk page. There is no discussion on Wikipedia regarding how this author's work may affect diverse audiences (or other course topics) despite writing multiple historical titles like Young Civil Rights Heroes. The most recent thing that we can see is that it was changed to low importance for children's literature in 2015.

Overall impressions

Guiding questions

• What is the article's overall status?
• What are the article's strengths?
• How can the article be improved?
• How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation

This article is underdeveloped, and it appears that no one is currently working on expanding it. Its strength is a long list of the author's works. It can be improved by dividing it into multiple sections, developing those sections, and adding citations.

Optional activity

• Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

with four tildes — ~~~~

• Link to feedback: Talk:Allan Zullo#Article Feedback