User:Jloon/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Time Stands Still (Degrassi: The Next Generation)

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 because I am a fan of the Degrassi franchise, particularly Degrassi: The Next Generation which this episode is from. This article is important because it is concerning one of the most shocking and difficult storylines that Degrassi ever attempted to tackle. These two episodes are still talked about to this day, especially since school shootings are still something that plague so many schools to this day. While Degrassi was set in Canada, these episodes proved that its impact reached far beyond where it was created. My first impression of the article was that it covered a lot of the same things that I found to be significant about the two part episode of "Time Stands Still."

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


 * Yes, the introductory sentence concisely and clearly describes the articles topic. It lists the background of the episode and its connection to the Degrassi: The Next Generation series and gives a good, quick summary of the episode's plot.
 * I do think the lead includes a good brief description of the article's major sections. The article has a separate section for each part of the episode and there is a sentence in the lead for each that provides a good overview. Although the last section about the impact of the episode is not summarized as well in the lead.
 * The last sentence of the lead includes information about an award that the director received because of the episode which is not anywhere in the article so that may be better served to be in the last section of the article rather than the lead.
 * Yes, this lead is very concise. It provides the perfect amount of information for people who have not watched this episode, or any Degrassi episodes, to understand what it is about.

Content


 * Yes, the content in the article is all concerning the plot of the two episode arc and why it is significant.
 * This episode was aired over a decade ago and nothing directly related to the episode and its topic has been released since - other than Drake (Aubrey Graham) releasing a music video that includes a nod back to this specific episode. However, that does not seem to be as integral to the topic of the article as the information that is currently in it. As of now, I think this article is as up to date as it can be.
 * I think the only content that may be missing is how this episode impacted later episodes of the series as it did have lasting effects in how the later storylines were processed and showcased. Of course, sources need to be found for these things so that may be the reason it is missing.
 * Yes, the article does relate to historically underrepresented topics because it is talking about how media, in this case Degrassi: The Next Generation, handles a topic as difficult and serious as school shootings and makes it accessible to teenagers to process. This is something that is not talked about frequently and in the time this episode was aired it was incredibly important.

Tone and Balance


 * Yes, although the topic can be controversial, this article does a good job of presenting facts and background rather than trying to sway the readers in any direction.
 * There are no claims that appear biased to a particular position.
 * The only viewpoints that may be underrepresented in this article are those of people who viewed the episode when it aired: the audience and critics. There are a lot of testimonies from the actors, directors, and other people involved in the creation of these two episodes but there is nothing from the people who watched it on screen. This may be because those opinions are less likely to be found in official sources.
 * Since this article is primarily concerned with discussing the episode "Time Stands Still," the only viewpoints that are highlighted are those of people involved so there was no emphasis on minority or fringe viewpoints.
 * This article does not seem to persuade the reader in favor of one position or another. The only time it even comes close is when it includes quotes from the actors and their opinions on the impact of the episode and its commentary on bullying and school violence,

Sources and References


 * I checked all of the sources while nearly all of them check out, the first source from fox news leads to a dead end. I'm assuming the article originally existed but was moved or no longer exists. Other than that, every fact in the article is connected to a reliable source.
 * The sources chosen seem to overlap quite a bit but that is probably related to the fact that they are all pulling from the same two twenty-minute long episodes. There is bound to be some overlap, and I think that guarantees that they are what was available on the topic.
 * The majority of the sources were created within the last five years. Again, these two episodes were released over a decade ago, so most of the coverage concerning them has fizzled out. These sources being within the last five years leads me to think that they are as current as they could be.
 * Most of the sources were written by women, which is a refreshing turn away from having primarily male authors. However, most of the women included are white, with only one of them being Black. I could not find more information on their backgrounds other than their other works so I cannot include other perspectives that may have impacted their writing.
 * Many of the sources in this article are other articles from publications like Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, The Independent, and other media that is primarily media and entertainment oriented. I checked to see if there are peer reviewed journals or sources related to Degrassi: The Next Generation, and while there are a couple, most of them are connected to other aspects or episodes of the show: like its tackling of issues related to abortion, LGBTQ+ identities, and so on.
 * As stated in the first bullet point, the first source from FoxNews.com no longer seems to work and leads to a page that says "something has gone wrong" instead of the article that was intended.

Organization and Writing Quality


 * This article is extremely well written and easy to read. The information is written in a way that makes it simple to comprehend. Every sentence is directly related to the topic so there is no point where it feels like there is "extra" or "unnecessary" information.
 * I did not find any spelling or grammatical errors when reading the article.
 * I found this article to be very well-organized. The sections are separated so that there is no unnecessary overlap and the overall point is clear. The section breaks also guarantee that there are no huge blocks or paragraphs of information which also makes it easier to read and comprehend.

Images and Media


 * Yes, the article includes a picture from the second part of the two-episode arc which shows the climax of the episode. It is the part where one of the characters is pointing his gun at the other characters who had hurt him earlier in the series. The picture is a good connection between the written description of the episodes that the article provides and the actual show.
 * I think the image could be better captioned to include the names of all the characters who appear in it. Right now the caption only sates that Rick is pointing his pistol at Emma, and does not mention that Sean is standing right next to his pistol while Toby is standing right next to Emma in the image.
 * Yes, it is stated that the screen-cap used qualifies as "fair-use" under United States copyright laws.
 * Yes, the image is located right at the top of the article, next to the introduction so it is easy for readers to compare what they are reading to the image. It also helps to capture the attention of potential readers.

Talk Page Discussion


 * The conversations going on behind the scenes of this topic are primarily concerning people asking for permission to add or edit the article and people offering corrections to the information included. One of the topics is someone explaining the corrections they made and why they made them: specifically that one of the characters had his arm bandaged up rather than placed in a swing, and other corrections to the summary of the episodes.
 * This article is part of the following WikiProjects: WikiProject Television/ Degrassi/ Episode Coverage, and WikiProject Canada / Television. Both of these are rated "C-class, Low importance."
 * We have not directly discussed the topic of Degrassi: The Next Generation in class so I can not speak to how different this article may be to our "discussion."

Overall Impressions


 * The article is rated as a C-grade article.
 * The strengths of this article are its conciseness and inclusion of necessary information. All of the information within it is directly related to the topic and is not "fluff." I also found its structure to be pleasing because it broke up the information into separate, easy-to-comprehend sections that made it more enjoyable to read. No section felt like it went longer than it needed to.
 * Improvements that could be made to this article would be related to its sources. Many of its sources are not peer reviewed and are primarily entertainment and media centered websites and publications. The one news source it used did not have a functional link, so that is also a bit of a detriment.
 * While I do think that this article is well-developed, it needs better sources to be a truly informational and reliable article. I think it is held back by the fact that most of the coverage on these two episodes of Degrassi were done by magazines and other less-reliable sources of information. While it may seem complete content-wise, it will need better sources, preferably peer-reviewed ones, to be the best it can be.