User:Bktfg/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: The Witches (novel)
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate: I loved reading Roald Dahl's books as a child, and I vividly recall having to stop at certain parts of The Witches due to its gruesome nature. Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed it, and I am eager to explore the reasons why it was banned in certain schools.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? Somewhat (does not mention much about its reception).
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? Yes (unabridged audio recording).
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? Quite concise, could include more detail.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes
 * Is the content up-to-date? Yes
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? Yes (missing aspects about context)
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics? No

Content evaluation
Overall, this Wikipedia article is clear and concise, equipping the reader with general information about The Witches. However, I would appreciate it if it included greater contextual details, such as the motivations behind the book, its historical references and background information.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Somewhat
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? Yes
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? Underdeveloped
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? No

Tone and balance evaluation
The author succeeds at using relatively neutral vocabulary to convey their point. However, towards the end of the article in the "Reception" section, criticisms of Dahl's book are underdeveloped and there is no indication of the responses to such criticisms. This could be interpreted as being biased towards critics of The Witches. In addition, the criticisms cited are not introduced with signal phrases, which makes the reader question the authority of the article.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? No
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? No
 * Are the sources current? Somewhat
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible? Unsure
 * Check a few links. Do they work? Yes

Sources and references evaluation
I believe that the sources and references in this article could be improved. For example, the writer uses numerous questionable sources such as blogs and entertainment sites. Further, the sources used only include limited information about the article; they do not go into much detail nor do they acknowledge the diversity of opinions concerning Dahl's book.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


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

Organization evaluation
This piece is well organized, with four different sections that are clearly defined. However, there are a few grammatical mistakes which need to be corrected. Nonetheless, these mistakes do not significantly affect the clarity and coherence of the article.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? No
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Yes
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? N/A

Images and media evaluation
There is only one picture available in this article. Illustrations by Quentin Blake could be added to make the article more appealing.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? Mostly details about the controversies and other minor edits.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? Rated start-class. WikiProjects: Books, Children's Literature, Novels / Roald Dahl
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? Could include more about the origins of the controversies

Talk page evaluation
It seems that the talk pages are relatively inactive, and comments are quite brief. I think that the origins of the controversies was rightly mentioned, but there were no major amendments made to the article. Questions often go unanswered.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? Start-class
 * What are the article's strengths? Clarity and coherence
 * How can the article be improved? Could have more in-depth analysis of the context, controversies and the visual details of the book.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? I would say that it is poorly developed, as there are aspects which have not been covered in much detail.

Overall evaluation
Overall, I believe that this page is a good start for anyone interested in learning more about Roald Dahl's The Witches. However, it lacks contextual detail and does not give a holistic viewpoint of the existing controversies surrounding the book. Therefore, amendments to develop this article are needed.

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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 * Link to feedback: here