User:Cjung10/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: Phillis Wheatley (link)
 * I have chosen this article to evaluate because the article and person are related to my course, she appears on the syllabus, and I am interested in learning more about Phillis Wheatley's life.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Lead evaluation
Yes, the Lead includes a concise and clear introductory sentence and a brief description of the major sections. It is not overly detailed.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Content evaluation
The content is relevant to the topic and appears relatively up-to-date. All of it belongs.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Tone and balance evaluation
The article is mostly neutral in the description of Wheatley's works and impact. These claims do not seem to be biased. But there is questionable tone and wording for other aspects of Wheatley's life. For example, in the way that it describes the Wheatley family's relationship to their slaves or in way the article describes Wheatley's husband as "improvident, and imprisoned for debt in 1784." Although the latter part is a fact, the description of "improvident" passes judgment without proper sourcing (i.e. we don't know why or how he accrued debt).

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Sources and references evaluation
Most of the information is from reliable and scholarly sources, which are properly cited in each paragraph. There is a mix of contemporary (2015-2019, etc.) and older sources (1992, etc.). The links appear to work. There is one prompt from December 2018 for "citation needed" for the claim that using the slave owner's surname for a slave is custom.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Organization evaluation
While the Lead was well-organized, the article is not as well-organized. For example, in the "Other Works" section, the descriptions of Wheatley's works are not in chronological order. Also, this section contains redundancy with the "Later life" section and the "Poetry" section. It is also confusing why the "Poetry section comes after "Other Works."

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Images and media evaluation
Yes, the images enhance the topic and are visually appealing. They are captioned well and adhere to copyright regulations.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Talk page evaluation
There are many conversations in the talk page questioning the lack of information on Wheatley's birth name, birth date, and other facts. Some claim that she may not have been the first female African-American poet while others argue that she is. There is some discussion about whether the article should refer to her as "Senegalese/West African" vs "African-American" at a time when the latter term was not in common usage yet. The conversation is not always civil and many replies are not signed with a username, which are different from how we. should discuss in class.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Overall evaluation
The overall status is that the article is relatively well-substantiated but still underdeveloped. The strengths are breadth of content and analysis of Wheatley's poetry. We can improve the article by modifying the tone and organization of sections.

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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