User:Adist001/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: Plains Indians
 * I chose to evaluate this article because we have just gone over this topic in class, and I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and learn some more about Plains Indians while doing this assignment.

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
To start, the Lead includes a very direct and concise sentence that generally sums up who exactly the Plains Indians are (essentially just stating the base fact that they are Native Americans on the Interior Plains). This sentence also includes a follow-up sentence that describes their identity and what they are most notable for, ultimately solidifying the description of the article topic.

The Lead doesn't necessarily go into much detail of the article's major sections. There are no overt descriptions of each section; however, there are very brief mentions of each section, so in a way, the sections are being somewhat introduced to the reader and are to be of no surprise upon reading the article.

For the most part, the Lead included information that is presented in the article. If anything, the Lead contained a lot of vital information that could've been expanded more in the contents of the article.

Generally, I believe that the Lead presents and provides a very direct and basic description of who exactly the Plains Indians are/were because it highlights where they reside, what they are most notable for, and the two classifications of them. This is effective because it allows the reader to have a decent basic, general understanding of who the Plains Indians are without having to read the entire article. My critique is, however, is that I believe that it went a little too overly detailed by giving entire lists of which Native groups were a part of each Plains Indian classification. While adding a few notable groups can be effective in giving a basic understanding of each classification, I think giving long lists can make the Lead look too link-and-information-heavy and may overwhelm the reader at first glance.

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 content in the article is relevant and related to the topic. It provides the important aspects of Plains Indians history including their upcoming with horses (their horse culture is very significant to their identity), conflicts they've had with the U.S. government, and the wars they've participated in.

Upon reviewing the article, I definitely believe that there is a lot more content that can be added and expanded on. To start, for the most part, the article solely focuses on information of Plains Indians from the 19th century and earlier. There is not any mention their life, culture, and history in the years of the 1900s and so forth. I believe that this article can seek improvement by going more into depth with such content and including information of their more present days. Additionally, in the Lead, there is a mention that the Plains Indians were "an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere." However, there is no place in the contents of the article that go into depth with this idea and elaborate on it; it makes this statement appear as a self-made claim. It can possibly be improved by adding a sub-section of describing the Plain Indians' influence on the literature and art. It can also be improved by even mentioning their literature and art as it is not represented in the article. Lastly, I definitely feel that some parts of the article can be elaborated on and detailed more. For example, the "Clothing" sub-heading contains such limited information and can definitely be expanded on as clothing is a very significant aspect to their culture.

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
The article does a very amazing job with staying neutral and not harboring a noticeable, biased position. Specifically, when discussing topics of war, it can be especially difficult trying to maintain a neutral stance and stray away from view pointing one certain perspective. However, when the article talks about the wars that the Plains Indians have participated in, it explains it in a way that showcases how the Plains Indians have been successful and also how they have not been successful. This is very crucial in fully understanding the Plain Indians in a non-biased way.

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
Reviewing the article, it obtains reliable secondary sources; the sources presented in the notes are primarily from books with the occasional links from academic and education websites. Essentially, reviewing this, this verifies that at least the cited information in the article is accurate. However, the article actually does have a couple of areas in the content in which there was no citation for the claims that it was making (it was even noted for not having so). Because of this, it makes it feel as if some parts of the article are inaccurate and unreliable.

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
I think the article is well-written. The wording and the sentence work are done in a way for anyone of all ages can understand and read the article easily. In other words, nothing is overly complex as if it was written for a college paper; it was written with its intended audience in mind.

I think the article is decently organized as well. I think that the topics presented in the sections reflect major and important aspects of the Plains Indians. I can also appreciate how they sort of chronologically go from specific history to broader topics (AKA research). However, as I've mentioned previously, I think the organization can be better improved by adding more sections/topics/content to be more in-depth in understanding the Plains Indians.

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
The images are relevant to the topics of the article and are event placed in the corresponding area/topic in which the image is portraying. This ultimately enhances the understanding of the topic because it gives the readers a visual to grasp an idea of what the article is talking about in each section.

All images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations. All of the images are either in public domain or have received licensing from another outside party.

It is just a minor detail, but I believe the captions can seek a little bit more improvement. I think having a caption with "This picture shows..." is slightly unprofessional and the caption can do without the phrase. Additionally, some of the paintings should have the artist mentioned in the caption.

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
The conversations in the talk page mostly consist of discussing information that could be added into the article and questions regarding the citations of statements made in the article.

The article is a part of many WikiProjects including WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North America, WikiProject North America, WikiProject Canada, WikiProject Mexico, WikiProject Oklahoma, and WikiProject United States / American Old West.

Wikipedia discusses the Plains Indians in a way that solely focuses on history and culture. Not much is referenced about their art and significant symbolism that we mention in class.

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
I definitely feel that the article is in need of improvement.

To start there are some strengths of the article:


 * The Lead provides a really concise and effective general overview of the Plains Indians.
 * The images enhance the article effectively
 * The most crucial, major points are talked about and mentioned in the contents
 * It does an outstanding job remaining neutral

However, there are a lot of things to be improved, but here are some general ones:


 * There are sections of the article that can be more in-depth and elaborated on to give a more full understanding
 * Some areas need to be cited in order for the information to be reliable
 * There should be more contemporary information about the Plains Indians (or at least information about them in the 20th century)
 * There should be a section about the arts and literature as it was mentioned to be a significant part of their identity of influence in the Lead
 * With that being said, there should be a section regarding their influence as it was claimed that they were the influence for American Indians

Overall, I believe that this article is just underdeveloped. It has the potential of being great. Currently, it is in the state of being a decent skeleton of a great article; it just needs more improvement on being more in-detail because I feel like a lot of potentially vital information has been excluded.

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

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