User:Erinkuehn/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose the Chevalier de Saint-Georges article to evaluate because Joseph Bologne was one of the first widely celebrated Black musicians and composers in Europe during the classical era, and it is so important that the information about him in this article is correct since the article is visible to the public.

Evaluate the article
The lead section of the article does an effective job of providing foundational information about musician and composer Joseph Bologne. The first sentence of the article tells the reader his ethnicity, French Creole and his occupations, violinist, composer, and conductor, and his birth and death dates. However, the first sentence could be improved by providing the specific symphony orchestra he conducted in Paris because, in the article, it says, "the leading symphony orchestra in Paris," which is a vague statement because there are multiple symphony orchestras in Paris and the people who read the article might find it beneficial if the article provided the specific name. In the lead section, it mentions a few brief details about Joseph Bologne's birth; however, it does not mention any information about his death even though it is brought up in sections "Later life" and "Saint-Domingue." Overall the lead section of the article goes into enough depth about Joseph Bologne without being too oversaturated with information. Regarding the content of the entire article, it does a pretty good job of describing Joseph Bologne's early life, his career as a musician, and information regarding his death. The tone and balance of the article remain neutral; however, there are a few times where the article leads towards expressing that Joseph Bologne is a great musician. For instance, the first line in the lead section describes Joseph Bologne as a "virtuoso violinist and composer" including this in the article is slightly problematic because saying he is a great musician is an opinion because what is considered to be a great musician is subjective. Regarding sources and references in this article, there are quite a few issues. For instance, there is a lot of uncited information in several of the sections, especially in the section "Later life," where there are many purported facts without any citations as evidence. In the section "Musical life and career," there is flagged information regarding his first opera, saying that it failed verification. The amount of un-cited material in the article is concerning because a reader may need to be more informed about the topic if they interpret the uncited material as factual information. Looking at the organization and writing quality of the article, the article is well organized into sub-categories, making finding specific information about Joseph Bologne more straightforward. When it comes to the writing quality of the article, there are a few concerns. Some sentences in the article could be more concise and factual. For instance, in the section "Musical life and career," the sentence, "Given his prodigious technique as an adult, Saint-Georges must have practiced the violin seriously as a child." is not relevant to this section of the article because it is an assumption that has no sources backing it up. For the most part, the images and media in the article are relevant to the content of the article. However, in the section "London and Lille," there is a portrait of George IV, Prince of Wales, even though his name is not specifically mentioned in the article. Looking at the article's talk page, many people reviewing the article have very similar concerns about the article, stating that there are a lot of phrases and information that need to be clarified and that there is much un-cited information. The amount of discourse concerning the validity of some of the information in the article is concerning. Overall the article has much potential because it offers a wide perspective into the life of Joseph Bologne; however, the article needs a lot of work and oversight to make it more factual and academically sound.