User:Parthenos18/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: Southern Literature
• This is a topic that is of interest to me since I have a background in English.

Lead

Guiding questions

The Lead's introductory sentence describes the article in a clear and concise manner. The Lead does not include a brief description of the the article's major sections and it does conclude information that is not present in the article. The Lead is concise.

• 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?

Content

Guiding questions

Most of the article's content is relevant to the topic and up to date. The one exception is the selected journals section which either needs to be expanded with an explanation of the role these journals play in southern literary culture, or more likely cut from the article all together. All of the content belongs in the article, however the different sections of the article could be expanded.

• 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?

Tone and Balance

Guiding questions

The article is not neutral. The writer makes statements that pass their own judgement (for example stating that the popularity of Gone with the Wind was "an incredible achievement for a female author." The article represents a couple of different viewpoints, particularly regarding race, but these viewpoints are underdeveloped. The article could also use more viewpoints specifically related to the discussing the definition and elements of Southern Literature. The article does not exactly attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another, but it does include statements of opinion presented as fact.

• 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?

Sources and References

Guiding questions

Many of the facts in this article are not backed up by a reliable secondary source of information. In fact, there are entire paragraphs without a single citation. The sources aren't very thorough. The article could use more sources about Southern Literature as a whole. There are current sources, but the lack of sources as a whole means that there are not as many current sources as their should be. The majority of the links work, although there are some link that do not work. There are also links that work but lead to the incorrect article or links where the highlighted works do not make sense.

• 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?

Organization

Guiding questions

The writing in the article is decent, but it is still not as clear, concise and easy to read as it could be. The article contains grammatical and spelling errors. While the article is broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic, it could use additional sections to elaborate on certain topics like the themes and tropes in Southern literature.

• 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?

Images and Media

Guiding questions

The article only includes one image, which has an overly long caption. The image does adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations. The image is not laid out in a visually appealing way.

• 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?

Checking the talk page

Guiding questions

The main conversations are how to name the article to avoid confusion between the south of the United States and the continent of South America. There are also conversations on what authors and works should be included and modifying external links. The article is part of WikiProject Literature (where it is rated Start-class, high importance) and WikiProject United States (where it is rated Start-class, low importance). One of the ways that Wikipedia discusses the article that is different from what we've talked about in class is that people use long examples and talk with each other in an informal way.

• 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?

Overall impressions

Guiding questions

The article's overall status is start class. The article's strengths are its history section. The article could be improved by using more neutral language, more sources, by improving the writing quality, adding more images, and by adding more about the definition and themes of Southern literature. I would say that the article is both underdeveloped and poorly developed.

• 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?

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: