User:Idevji/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Mandala
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate: I chose to evaluate this article because mandalas are something that I have been exposed to growing up and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about them.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes, it includes an introductory sentence that describes the meaning of mandala and what a mandala is in very basic terms.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? Yes and no, it covers that a mandala is used in various spiritual traditions, like Hinduism and Buddhism, which are two major sections, but does not mention, for example, Mesoamerican civilizations or Christianity which are major sections.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? Yes, it mentions that the mandala is used in Shintoism and Jainism but these religions are not mentioned in the rest of the Wikipedia article.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? I think it is very concise and the only comment I have is that the part about new age can be made into another major section.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes
 * Is the content up-to-date? Yes
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? I think content that is missing is the significance of mandalas in Jainism and Shintoism, since it was mentioned in the lead.
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics? No.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes!
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? No.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? No.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? Looking at the references, many were backed up by reliable secondary sources like books and journal articles but others seemed to come from sketchy websites written by random people.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? Yes, for the most part.
 * Are the sources current? Yes, for the most part. There is an article relating to the contemporary use of the mandala that dates to 2015.
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible? Yes, covers literature from various cultures.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? All of the links in references work except for #3 ( Kheper,The Buddhist Mandala – Sacred Geometry and Art), #8 ("Mandala: from sacred origins to sovereign affairs in traditional Southeast Asia"), and #25 (Frontiers of Anthropology — The Mayan Mandala),

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? Yes.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? I did not see any.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? Yes, although I think there are a lot of major sections that could possibly be condensed so that there aren't as many.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes!
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes, although I am not sure if they are necessarily relevant since they are not mentioned anywhere else in the article.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Yes, I think all of them do except the one titled, "The Aztec Sun Stone as an amate print" by the user pacofender who does not have a user page.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? Yes, there is even a gallery at the end with more pictures.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? There are conversations around improving the article by users modifying external links, moving around excerpts that fit better in other sections, and changing of vocabulary.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? It has been listed as a level-5 vital article in Philosophy. It is part of the Hinduism, Buddhism, Philosophy and Religion WikiProjects.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? It looks in detail at various perspectives and the role it plays in various cultures and in today's times in an unbiased manner.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? Great!
 * What are the article's strengths? Variety of perspectives!
 * How can the article be improved? Fix the references, organize the major sections and mention the relevance of the pictures in the article.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? It is fairly developed with some improvements needed.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

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