Talk:The Heart of a Woman

Editorializing
I only read through the intro part, so this is limited to the intro, but I do not think this follows a neutral point of view. I'll admit it doesn't advance controversial opinions. I agree that Angelou is a great writer, but I still think that saying such is my opinion of her, which should not be in an encyclopedic article. I marked the spots in the intro that I felt were editorializing. I think it would work better to just find a source that said the opinions therein. --Wikigold96 (talk) 06:08, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

Removed text
Removed from 'Background' section because this passage doesn't concern the book or its background, but heaps praise upon the author per WP:COATRACK: Writer Julian Mayfield calls I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou's first autobiography, "a work of art that eludes description", and states that Angelou's work sets a precedent not only for other Black women writers, but for the genre of autobiography as a whole.

For example, while Angelou was composing her second autobiography, Gather Together in My Name, she was concerned about how her readers would react to her disclosure that she had been a prostitute. Her husband Paul Du Feu talked her into publishing the book by encouraging her to "tell the truth as a writer" and "be honest about it". Through the writing of her life stories, however, Angelou has become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. It made her, as scholar Joanne Braxton has stated, "without a doubt, ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer".

I removed many other sentences and small blocks of text; see 'History' for details. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 07:28, 25 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Wow, you did such an extensive copyedit! Much appreciated.  Sorry it't taken me a little while to address you feedback and comments; I've had other fish to fry, as they say, both here and IRL.

Removed references
Removed because superfluous once text above is removed - if replacing these, remove the 'nowiki' tags.

Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 17:52, 25 November 2012 (UTC)


 * That's fine, and to be expected when removing stuff like you did. I'm fine with the changes you made, although it did get through a GAC with what you call "biased" content.  One of the reasons you ask for an outside copy-edit, though, is so that un-biased editors look at an article with fresh eyes.  I admit that I am biased about Maya Angelou; I respect her greatly, which is obvious from all the work I've done on several articles about her over the span of many years.  Again, the reason I ask for copy-edits for her articles.  Understand, though, that much of the reviews about Angelou take on that biased language, so it's not just me.  I look forward to seeing what the reviewers in FAC think about it.

Final comments
Despite the copy-edit, the article is still full of essay-like comments, such as "According to (author)", "(Author) says that ..." etc. The constant namedropping of academics makes it read like a college essay IMO. I didn't remove these because that goes well beyond my remit as a copy-editor, and would probably result in confusing prose. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:31, 27 November 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm learning all the time, and that includes how to handle writing about reviews and critics. I'll go though the article again to see if I can omit some of it.  Thanks for the copy-edit! Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 18:18, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

TFAR
Today's featured article/requests/The Heart of a Woman --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:43, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

Tried again --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:34, 7 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Marking this section as resolved since the article has appeared on the Main page. --- Another Believer ( Talk ) 03:55, 4 April 2017 (UTC)