User:Benohara/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: (link) Native American mascot controversy
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. The controversy surrounding the Washington Football Team's name has been in the news lately and is an important topic.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes. It encompasses the main theme of the article.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? Yes, it covers viewpoints, trends, and other issues (as defined in the table of contents).
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? As far as I can tell, no.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? Perhaps it is too detailed. One sentence only should be devoted to each subject analyzed in the article instead of three whole paragraphs.

Lead evaluation
Adequate; could use some improvement.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes, it goes through all of the examples of Native American mascots throughout American sports levels.
 * Is the content up-to-date? Yes; for example, the articles references that Washington Football is in the process of changing its team name.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? No.

Content evaluation
Good.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes, it contains the principal viewpoints on the issue
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? No.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? It tries to convince readers that Native American mascots are racist and are detrimental to society, but since it provides evidence from Native Americans and sociologists, the article is valid in its argument.

Tone and balance evaluation
Very good.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? Yes, the vast majority of facts are reinforced by reliable sources
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? They are thorough; however, most come from news articles rather than scholarly sources, so this may be a source of bias.
 * Are the sources current? Yes, many sources are from 2020 and the past decade.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? Yes, the 10 links that I tried all worked.

Sources and references evaluation
Very good.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? Yes; short paragraphs, clear style, very readable.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? No.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? Yes, each section clearly explains each main point of the topic.

Organization evaluation
Excellent.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes, the images of the racist mascots help the reader understand the caricaturization of Native Americans that these mascots perpetuate.
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes, the captions are clear and relevant to the photos.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Yes, they all come from public domain sources where the images are free to use without copyright.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? There could have been more images of mascots to enhance understanding.

Images and media evaluation
Adequate.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? There are conversations regarding quality of citation sources and most of them are civil; some, however, have become a bit personal.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? It is rated as good. It is a part of around 19 WikiProjects.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? Wikipedia emphasizes that the talk page is a space only for discussing improvements to the article as opposed to discussing the subject itself.

Talk page evaluation
Adequate.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? Good.
 * What are the article's strengths? The citations, organization of the body of the article and the balanced tone.
 * How can the article be improved? The Lead should be condensed to be more clear and easier to read
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? Very well-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

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