User:Fisheralicia0/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
(Provide a link to the article here.)

Afro-Caribbean history

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 on Afro-Caribbean history because it is often not discussed in mainstream Western academia. Even as isolated topics of history, it is rare to see African and Caribbean history research published for mainstream public viewing. Therefore, when I first found this article I was pleased to see historical information provided about the Afro-Caribbean community. My initial impression was that the article was structured nicely and provided a good amount of examples to begin showcasing Afro-Caribbean history.

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 provides substantial contextual background information to better transition the reader into the article. The lead does include an introductory sentence that is concise and clear.

Where the lead can be improved is to sign post the sections that will be discussed later in the article so it is easier for the reader to follow.

Content:

Overall the article’s content is relevant to the topic and provides some current information. The article’s topic does address one of Wikipedia’s equity gaps as African or Caribbean history is often not highlighted in Western academia.

Some improvements that can be made are adding missing citations and more current day connections. More information can be added to the 21st century subsection. Providing more modern additions of important figures in Afro Caribbean history would help readers better understand that significant Afro-Caribbean figures still exist today. Showcasing living figures is important to bridge the connection from history to present day.

Tone and Balance:

The article does a good job of holding a neutral tone throughout the article. There does not seem to be claims made by the writer that are biased or persuade the reader to a certain perspective.

Some areas that seemed overrepresented are the French colonization of Haiti, British colonization, and the Haitian Revolution. These events are the primary points of Afro-Caribbean history that Western academia tends to focus on. Therefore, there should be more balanced representation by including information on other islands in the Caribbean like Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, etc.

Sources and References:

The sources and references provided are appropriate for the historical topic. The sources consist of academic books, an academic journal, and a news article backed up by secondary sources. However, there could be more peer-reviewed journals that would strengthen the credibility of the article.

Organization and writing quality:

Overall, the article was clearly organized and well-written and with minor grammatical mistakes. The sections of the article were organized clearly and in chronological order which best fit the historical topic of the article.

However, one part that should be modified is keeping the term referring to the “Black” race consistent to not confuse readers. The author would switch back and forth between “black” and “Black” which was confusing.

Images and media:

There were no images to evaluate.

Talk page discussion:

Some points discussed in the talk page were about missing citations and providing more representative sources. The article is rated a C-Class article and is a part of two WikiEdu projects. The two projects are the African Diaspora and the Caribbean.

Overall feedback:

I thought the article included very interesting and helpful information. I learned a great deal from reading this article on Afro-Caribbean history. Some key points to look out for are keeping frequently used terms consistent, adding more credible sources (i.e. academic journals), and making sure not to miss needed citations.