User:Earthlover36/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Banana

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
In In The Shadow of Slavery, the banana is discussed as a product of the monsoon trade with India. African then manipulated the use of the banana to make it their own, but are not commonly awarded with the credit. It seems that the banana is heavily intertwined with the slave trade, as plantains made an appearance in the Madeira and Canary islands when Africans began being used for labor. I chose this article because I was curious about how much of this information would overlap with what is provided on Wikipedia, and if Wikipedia connects the banana/plantain to African diet, even it did not originate in Africa.

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.)

Lead Section: The lead section properly describes what a banana is to someone who is completely foreign to the fruit. The section is overly detailed regarding scientific terminology. It includes information about the Southeast Asian and Oceanic origin of the banana, but mentions no African contribution. Because the African style and manipulation of the banana shapes how we use the fruit in modern day, the lead section would benefit from mentioning African influence to inform readers who are only skimming the article.

Content: This is a detailed, long Wikipedia article that contains a variety of information regarding the banana, from nutritional value to historical origin. The content is up-to-date with modern cultivation of the banana, statistics of the largest export countries, and diseases and pesticides that affect the growth of the banana. However, "slavery", or any word of similarity, is not mentioned once in this article. Considering bananas would not a worldwide, high-production fruit without the influence of the human migration of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, I consider this Wikipedia article to be missing valuable information.

Tone and Balance: This article is fairly neutral, not much is left up for interpretation. However, it does seem as though it is avoiding discussion surrounding the relationship between slavery and the banana. It briefly mentions banana plantations started by Portuguese colonists, but fails to mention the agricultural skills and innovation of African farmers that made banana plantations possible. In addition, banana plantations are no stranger to humans rights issues, as workers are often abused and underpaid in Central and South America so that the world can access these fruits. These topics, though unenjoyable to read, are key in discussion surrounding the historical and modern spread of the banana.

Sources and References: The sources are thorough, current, and represent many authors. All the links work.

Organization and Writing Quality: The article is well-written. It is long and not particularly concise, however is is organized neatly so readers can easily find what information they are looking for. I do not see any spelling or grammar errors.

Images and Media: The article has helpful maps to track the diffusion of the banana across the world. There are many images of bananas, but none of banana production. However, all the images are well-captioned and well-sourced. Most of the pictures reside on the right side of the text. Better integration into the text would encourage readers to look at the images, rather than skipping over them.

Talk Page Discussion: While there are not many discussions, there is a bit of discourse surrounding the dangerous use of fertilizer in regards to the environment. The way that Wikipedia discusses the topic of bananas compared to class is very different. In class, we discuss how the banana, along with many other plants, has been culturally altered by its interaction with Africa as a result of the Triangle Trade. Wikipedia takes a broad approach, focusing more on its Asian origination than its African alteration.

Overall Impressions: This article has obviously been widely-viewed and widely-edited, as the banana is one of the most popular fruits in the world. As a result, it is informative, clearly organized, and covers a wide range of topics. However, if I was a first-time reader with no previous knowledge of the banana, I would form no association between the banana and Africa. I think this article could benefit from a section dedicated to African farmers and the African cultural use of banana, as well as how it is used in modern day in African cuisine. While I consider this article well-developed, it would benefit in thoroughness from a direct integration of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, rather than dancing around the topic.