User:Foucauldienspirit/Choose an Article

Article Selection
Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

 * Article title
 * We Real Cool (poem) by Gwendolyn Brooks
 * Article Evaluation
 * Wikipedia rates this article a C-Class. I think that the perspective in the poem should be improved. In the introductory section, the author cites that the poem is known as a notable poem of jazz, while then noting in the "origin section" (a label I believe should be revised) that it's about in Gwendolyn Brook's words "seeing a pool hall full of boys [,] and wondering what they think of themselves". Additionally, there is no structural analysis in the article of the poem and the only thing evaluated are the themes which require a citation. Lastly, the pop culture section (which should be revised as reception) is lacking some more examples.
 * Sources
 * Q. you've written in the poem The Chicago ... - jstor.org. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1207502.pdf.
 * Holmes, A. (2020, April 28). Gwendolyn Brooks: "We REAL COOL," two ways. Gwendolyn Brooks: "We Real Cool," Two Ways | From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at the Library of Congress. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2020/04/gwendolyn-brooks-we-real-cool-two-ways/.
 * Vol. 19, No. 2, AFRO-AMERICAN PROSE FICTION AND VERSE: A SPECIAL NUMBER (December,1975), pp. 280-285 (6 pages)

comments - np
You point out several gaps in the article, including the lack of structural analysis. In fact the structure of the poem is particularly interesting, and the brief attempt to describe the stanza form is incomplete and unclear. You mention also the reference to jazz poetry, which should be explained, not just presented in a quotation from a critical source. The article relies primarily on Brooks’s comments, which are interesting but should not be the main source of information about the poem. You found three sources for further development of the article, and there are surely multiple others. “We Real Cool” is an influential poem and it should be represented by a stronger article. This is a worthwhile project.

By the way – the article history shows that an editor removed some examples from the pop culture section. You might take a look if you decide to revise that section.

Your comments about section headings make sense.

Option 2

 * Article title
 * Lady Lazarus (poem) by Sylvia Plath
 * Article Evaluation
 * This article is rated a stub, therefore a lot of work needs to be done. There is no information about the structure of the poem, all of which can used to support the "Illustrations of Plath's depression during WW2" section. The author mentions "writing style" in the introductory section, which should be supported by a citation and by exploration of what this writing style is. Additionally, going back to the "Illustrations of Plath's depression during WW2", this section lacks citations from scholarly sources.
 * Sources
 * Strangeways, Al, and Sylvia Plath. “‘The Boot in the Face’: The Problem of the Holocaust in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath.” Contemporary Literature, vol. 37, no. 3, [Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, University of Wisconsin Press], 1996, pp. 370–90, https://doi.org/10.2307/1208714.
 * Ghasemi, Parvin. “VIOLENCE, RAGE, AND SELF-HURT IN SYLVIA PLATH’S POETRY.” CLA Journal, vol. 51, no. 3, College Language Association, 2008, pp. 284–303, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44325429.

Eder, Doris L. “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Lady Lazarus.” Contemporary Literature, vol. 21, no. 2, [Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, University of Wisconsin Press], 1980, pp. 301–07, https://doi.org/10.2307/1207924.

British library. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/a-close-reading-of-lady-lazarus.

comments - np
Here is another inadequate article about a significant poem. You point out a number of problems, including the lack of citations in the section “Illustrations of Plath’s depression during WW2.”  That section title, too, should be questioned. What does it refer to? Note that Plath was born in 1932. Even if it were possible to associate images in the poem with Plath’s biography, the timing makes no sense.

The article should be substantially rewritten. If you have an interest in Plath and in the poem, this could be a good project.

Option 3

 * Article title
 * Daddy (poem) by Sylvia Plath
 * Article Evaluation
 * This article does a good job of addressing the structural composition of this poem, as well as hitting on the background, the themes, and the reception. The main problem with this article is its sourcing. It is not well sourced.
 * Sources
 * Burke, Anthony. “Poetry Outside Security.” Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, vol. 25, no. 3, Sage Publications, Inc., 2000, pp. 307–21, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40644952.
 * Ghasemi, Parvin. “VIOLENCE, RAGE, AND SELF-HURT IN SYLVIA PLATH’S POETRY.” CLA Journal, vol. 51, no. 3, College Language Association, 2008, pp. 284–303, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44325429 . Cam, Heather. “‘Daddy’: Sylvia Plath’s Debt to Anne Sexton.” American Literature, vol. 59, no. 3, Duke University Press, 1987, pp. 429–32, https://doi.org/10.2307/2927127.
 * Chiasson, D. (2013, February 12). Sylvia Plath's Joy. The New Yorker. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/sylvia-plaths-joy.

comments - np
“Daddy” is an interesting and difficult poem and the article needs work, as you suggest. Your main criticism of the article concerns the sourcing. Are you suggesting that it should have more in-line citations, or that the cited sources are inadequate?

The article is fairly long, so if you decided to work on it you could focus on certain sections. For example, the Description section could be improved. The Subject matter sub-section has only one footnote, supporting a reference to biographical information about Plath’s father. But the summary of the poem should be revised with a look at other sources. The Interpretation sub-section could also be revised to eliminate some of the longer quotations from critical sources.

Option 4

 * Article title
 * The Second Coming (poem) by W. B. Yeats
 * Article Evaluation
 * The article is labeled a "Start class", so it's in its preliminary stages. There is no analysis of structure featured, and there are only two sentences where scholarly interpretation is explored. Additionally, the section "Influence" doesn't elaborate on why the artists were influenced by Yeats nor what ties them all together. Other additions like the poem itself could be added to the article since the author mentions imagery used.
 * Sources
 * Tabor, N. (2015, April 7). No slouch. The Paris Review. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/04/07/no-slouch/.
 * Simon, S. (2020, November 28). Opinion: Reading William Butler Yeats 100 years later. NPR. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2020/11/28/939561949/opinion-reading-william-butler-yeats-100-years-later.
 * Snyder, B. H. & M. (2019, August 9). What insights arise From Yeats' 'the SECOND COMING'? ThoughtCo. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.thoughtco.com/things-fall-apart-a-guide-2725492.

comments - np
The article is astonishingly inadequate. The Talk page confirms this – the template requests improvements, but contributors don’t even know how to begin to address the obvious problems. So on the one hand this would be a good choice  and a chance to make a contribution, and on the other hand it would probably be quite difficult. Here too you could focus on one specific aspect of the poem. You would also need to consult scholarly sources in addition to the more popular sources you list.

Option 5

 * Article title
 * Vultures (poem) by Chniua Achebe
 * Article Evaluation
 * This article is classified as a stub, so it needs a lot of improvement. There is no background about the poem or Achebe's work in general. There is no information about poem structure or even the exhibition of any kind of scholarly interpretation.
 * Sources
 * Irele, F. Abiola. “Chinua Achebe as Poet.” Transition, no. 100, [Indiana University Press, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University], 2008, pp. 44–50, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20542539.
 * Poetry. Poetry - vultures/chinua achebe. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.mahmag.org/english/worldpoetry.php?itemid=456.

comments - np
It’s interesting that you chose a poem by Chinua Achebe, whose title Things Fall Apart comes from Yeats’s “Second Coming.”  There’s also a link to “Daddy”: Achebe’s poem and Plath’s both refer to “Belsen” – and the word “Daddy’s” appears in the same stanza as “Belsen” in “Vultures” (but this is probably a coincidence, not an echo – I’m also not sure of the dating of “Vultures”). As you suggest, there is really no article here, so there is a lot of room for improvement. One question would be whether there are sources to support further work. The article by Irele that you cite looks promising, but you would need at least several others – studies of Achebe’s poetry if not analyses of “Vultures” (Irele quotes the poem but does not analyze it). If you can find sources, this could be a worthwhile project.

Have you looked at the Talk page? There’s link to a discussion of the article as recommended for deletion. The discussion could be helpful if you decide to work on the article. There are comments about the use of the poem in school curricula (in Britain).