User:Dinakmehta/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: Zoroastrian Wedding
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. I am hoping to use this assignment to learn more about my Parsi background and faith. At the same time, I know knowledge about the Parsi community is fairly limited on online and public spaces. Following our recent class discussions about marriage regulations and intercaste marriages, I became captivated by the commonplace regulation within Parsi families of interfaith marriages and would love to explore this topic more.

Lead

 * Guiding question


 * 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
The lead is a mere one sentence, that is lacking in several ways. It makes sweeping generalizations about marriage in general and Parsi marriages. Furthermore, it fails to introduce the topic of the Wiki page, with regards to what the page is specifically focusing on within the topic of Zoroastrian Weddings. To expand, this article discusses lots about the actual ceremony and process of marriage for Zoroastrians, but touches little on the significance of interfaith marriages or the importance of marriage as a whole within the community.

Content

 * Guiding question


 * 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, however reflects more of a textual and historical analysis rather than real life, lived experience, analysis of Zoroastrian marriage practices. Text within each section is brief, about one or two sentences per section and fails to delve into parts of Zoroastrian marriage beyond "Prior to the Wedding" ceremonies.

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 analysis is not biased, however to me, it reflects a surface level or superficial understanding of the community and its practices. The information here is very brief and takes a treatment of the subject that fails to capture nuance or significance. Additionally, the article makes lots of sweeping statements without evidence or references.

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
The article is backed by little information, sources, or citations. The links at the end of the article, do work and appear to be reputable. However, there are only three sources for this article, while even my brief online searches on the topic of Parsi Marriages reveal a plethora of sources. I feel a more in depth literature review on the topic, with more sources, would provide this page what it needs in terms of greater analysis.

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
The article has a good structure/organization as it is just now, however it feels in complete to me. By this I mean, the article delves into "Prior to the Wedding" ceremonies and traditions, but then ends after this section. This leaves me to wonder about during the wedding and post wedding traditions? Furthermore, the somewhat lacking, one sentence intro touches on the fact that Parsis are urged to marry within the community but then does not return to this idea within the article. I think this would be a great place to expand upon within the page.

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
There are 2 interesting photos throughout the article. This seems appropriate as the article is very short right now, but I would hope to add to this. Additionally images are both in the same style and appear to be from the same era. I think the article could benefit from some diversity of photos that show marriage historically, in different parts of the world, and being performed in different ways.

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
People in the talk page are admitting to the fact that the page is outdated and apparently draws mainly from only one source that a wiki editor admits is 85 years old. Other people have committed that the ceremony is unchanged so this is okay. While I agree that the traditional ceremony might mostly remain the same, I think it is not correct to make this statement as so many things surrounding marriage and the context of Parsi marriages have changed in the last 85 years. The talk page makes it even more clear to me that this page needs updating.

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
I think this article is a good start, but it needs updating and to be expanded upon!

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: