User:Chloponyart391/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
The Kingdom of Benin article.

Kingdom of Benin - Wikipedia

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

I chose this article because I have learned a little about the Benin and this will make me better able to evaluate the article. I think this article looks better than most articles about African kingdoms or people, however it is not as detailed as it could be.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

The lead of the article is good. It clearly states where the Kingdom is located, as well as other names for the kingdom. However, it does not include a section that overviews the other sections contained in the article. The content of the article is relevant; however, it does not contain much information that is current. The section for present day was very underdeveloped.

The oral traditions section is very heavy and not easy to read. It should be rewritten more concisely. The architecture section was also oddly placed. It should be moved lower, the placement as it is now is confusing and makes it seem very important. There is an emphasis placed on Benin walls, when perhaps it should focus on the culture and the practices of the kingdom. There is a large emphasis on human sacrifice, which was a colonial myth. This should be edited to reflect the actual practices of the Edo people. The religion of the Edo people is very underdeveloped.

The article remains neutral. However, there is a lot of emphasis placed on European experience of the Edo people. The article seems to sway the reader into thinking the Edo people were barbaric and that the Benin Kingdom was deserving of the punitive expedition.

The article mainly uses relevant and trustworthy sources. However, some sources have expired links, or they are untrustworthy such as, "motleytravels.org". This is not a trustworthy source and should certainly not be used when referring to the oral tradition of the Edo people. Some are also news articles, which are perhaps where one might start to gather information but then they must further examine the sources used within the news article.

The article makes good use of sections; however, they are not well-ordered. The article is not written in a compelling way, it is a bit disorganized. There are very few images and the images included seem a bit random.

The talk page is full of disagreements. There are very few productive conversations occurring. It is a level 5 article. It is involved in three wiki projects. The wiki page discusses it with a more colonial viewpoint. One editor even mentioned an article having "anti-British" sentiment as if that has anything to do with the credibility of the article. This Wikipedia article has a lot of "anti-Benin" sentiment.

The article is overall okay. The oral tradition section is a strength. There is also a lot of content about the European experience of Benin kingdom. The article really must improve its present-day section, and its ritual section. I think this article is poorly developed because it lacks a lot of knowledge on the Edo people.