User:Cadebabade/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Dorothy Davenport

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because it is one of the filmmakers that I am thinking of doing for my final filmmaker. My initial impression of the page was that it had a decent amount of information but it is all very surface level and missing large chunks (ie it lists her filmography but doesn't talk about any of them in further detail)

Evaluate the article
The lead section of this article does not give an adequate overview of Davenport as a person or her place in film history. Instead it talks about her husband as inspiration for her films and the content would be better suited in the career section of the page or when discussing her filmography. I believe this section should be rewritten almost entirely and give a broader overview of her position in history, the type of films she made, and her significance as a filmmaker.

The article does not separate her life from her career lumping it together throughout the "early career" and "late career". If I can find resources that reflect more on her personal life I want to add a section pertaining to that as understanding her life outside of her work is a big part of ensuring women are secured a place in history. Additionally, the way this information is written is very sporadic, meaning that the author jumps around from one topic to another without linking them in anyway. It makes for a more disjointed read, thought this could make information easier to find when referencing the article. The tone is appropriately neutral and addresses everything from an incredibly factual stand point so it has that going for it. They do not attempt to make unfounded/unsourced connections between events and her work.

Speaking of sources, the page has a decent number of sources for its size and all of them appear to be reliable. Many of the older sources, however, are from old new papers (ie New York Times) and are only accessible with a subscription or by signing up making them difficult sources fro readers to continue their research with. The oldest sources is from 1911 and the most recent is from 2014. The images there are good and provide visuals for both Davenport and her husband.

The article is part of several WikiProjects (Biography/ Actors and Filmmakers, Women writers, Women's History, and Women in Business) and is rated C in all categories tho in low importance. There is a decent amount of discussion regarding the reorganization of the article in the talk page but it was last updated in January of this year. It has some work to build on in regards to the changes I would make if working on this article.

Overall I think this article is decently written for the class it is in but has some whole that need to be filled and should be re-written as the quality of writing is subpar.