User:Hm9921/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Giovanni Boccaccio

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because I really enjoyed reading the excerpts of Boccaccio's Decameron in class and found Professor Palmer's discussion of his life quite interesting! This article is also currently listed as a C-Class article so I wanted to see what could be done to improve it.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section

- The lead section does have a clear, concise introductory sentence explaining Boccaccio's relevance; however, it does introduce some information that is not present in other parts of the article (e.g. the fact that Boccaccio, Dante, and Petrarch are the "Three Crowns" of Italian Literature).

Content

- The content seems pretty up-to-date and has been edited quite recently.

- It could be useful to have a more developed section on the Decameron specifically, under the "Works" banner. It could also be useful to add additional information to the Infobox (e.g. his notable works, resting place, etc.) and perhaps a section on his legacy.

Tone and Balance

- The article is written from a neutral, balanced point of view.

Sources and References

- There are a couple places where additional citation could be given (e.g. a block-quoted portion of the Decameron). However, overall there are a good number of citations throughout.

- The sources cited seem to be reputable and the links are working.

- The sources themselves are a bit dated. Could include more recently published texts (e.g. Reconsidering Boccaccio: Medieval Contexts and Global Intertexts, 2018).

Organization and Writing Quality

- Overall, I think the article is well-organized and well-written! There are a couple of places where the writing could be tightened a bit (particularly in the lead section). One potential option for slight re-organization could be to further expand the area on Boccaccio's "Works," rather than having the discussion of his various works blended with his Biography.

Images and Media

- I really love the use of images and media in this article! I think the portraits/sculptures of Boccaccio are beautifully integrated, and the images of his texts are well done as well.

- The images are all well-captioned.

Talk page discussion

- It seems like most of the Talk Page discussion is about confirming certain facts about Boccaccio's life and also preventing/correcting plagiarism (e.g. there was a portion of the text that was previously drawn entirely from the Encyclopedia Britannica without use of quotes or proper citation).

- The article has been rated as a C-Class. It is currently part of the WikiProject Biography / Arts and Entertainment (C-Class), WikiProject Italy (C-Class, High-Importance), WikiProject Middle Ages (C-Class, Importance), WikiProject Poetry (C-Class, Mid-Importance).

Overall Impressions

- I think this article has covered a lot of ground on Boccaccio, with a lot of good information. However, I do wonder if it could be re-organized slightly. I think expanding the section on his major works (rather than having the list of works, and incorporating discussions of his works into his biography) would help visitors to the site find information more easily. I also think potentially condensing the information in the Lead Section, particularly its discussions of Boccaccio's legacy, and creating a full "legacy" section would also improve the article's flow and readability.

- I would assess the article as very well-developed in terms of content, and fairly well-developed in terms of organization.