User:Bryanp64/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: Harun al-Rashid
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. I'm interested in learning about this Islamic ruler who ruled during the Islamic Golden Age.

Lead

 * Guiding questions
 * The introduction states the time period of the caliphate but only includes Harun's achievements while leaving out other notoriety, such as his effective split of the empire nearing the end of his reign. This article does include a brief section of other sections, but some sections don't appear in any other part of the article. There is one line that the article states in the opening which is not referenced elsewhere, and that would be when Harun was accused by Shi'a Muslims for participating in killing Musa ibn Jaf'ar). The lead is concise but not properly detailed in relation to the article.


 * 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
 * The content of the article talks about the supportive roles of other ministers and political figures during Harun's reign, which is fine but maybe there could be more talk about his feats and importance as a ruler in the main article rather than in the lead. The content is presumably not up to date as the article still needs some citations. Accomplishments and critics section may be needed.


 * 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's tone sways between praising and critiquing Harun's rule. It tries to be neutral but the facts are muddied out by emotion to either good or bad things about Harun. Both viewpoints are properly presented throughout the article although their integration into the article could use some refining. The article does not sway the reader into thinking about the validity of Harun, although the way the information is presented could lead readers to think highly or lowly of Harun.


 * 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
 * No. Some quotes from the article are left uncited. The sources do the best they can to portray Harun as accurately as possible; it's just the lack of string sources that leave the entry a bit hollow. The article is somewhat up to date (the last edit was Sept. 21, 2019). Some links do work.


 * 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 article can be a bit difficult to read, especially since this is a ruler not many people in the west may know about. As far as reading goes, there's no grammatical errors to encounter. The main points of the article could use some work however; providing a better scope of the rule of Harun al-Rashid for one would greatly benefit the article.


 * 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
 * They do include media and images to better understand the topic, such as the literary source One thousand and One Nights and a coin to signify his importance. The images serve for what they do, although more is better, obviously. The images adhere to copyright regulations as they are public domain. The images are small, however, so their impact and perceived importance is diminished, especially since the amount of images available for someone during this time period may be limited.


 * 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
 * There are source citation conversations going on with the article as well as point of view. Wikipedians are doing their best to improve the article by properly citing sources and distinguishing fact from fiction/legend. This article is part of WikiProject Iraq, Arab world, Islam, and others. This article is deficient in many pictures and the article is simplified.


 * 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
 * Overall, the article does a decent job of explaining Harun al-Rashid's story, but the writing can throw off a reader or two when it comes to the overall scope of the story. The article provides great detail of supporting background to Harun's story, but the story of Harun is somewhat lacking. This doesn't take into account that the article is in dire need of sources and citations. So far, the article is underdeveloped, although great strides are made to properly write Harun's story and background.


 * 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: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Bryanp64/Evaluate_an_Article&redirect=no&preload=Template%3ADashboard.wikiedu.org_evaluate_article&veaction=edit


 * --Bryanp64 21:01, 29 September 2019 (UTC)