User:Jshowe33/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Anti-LGBT rhetoric

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because it directly relates to the issues we are discussing in my POLS 431 class. This article matters because Anti-LGBT rhetoric is a major issue that is continuously seen within our society. Furthermore, it is essential for the general public to acknowledge and be aware of the negative impacts that Anti-LGBT rhetoric has within the LGBT community in order to minimize its' influence in the future.

Evaluate the article
The lead section within this article provides a strong introductory sentence that clearly describes the article’s topic. This section is concise and not overly detailed. Nevertheless, some issues arise in lead section’s ability to provide brief descriptions of the articles major topics discussed. More specifically, the lead section does not mention the overall effects of anti-LGBT rhetoric on the LGBT community. Furthermore, the lead section also does not mention anything about the illegitimate political influence of anti-LGBT rhetoric. Finally, within the lead section, the statement that antisemitic conspiracy theories argue that the “LGBT movement is an instrument of foreign control and domination” should be more specific, in order to avoid any confusion over how the LGBT movements could result in foreign domination.

The overall content of this article is relevant and up to date. Although the article covers all the important aspects within the topic of anti-LGBT rhetoric, I find that there is not enough information on the effects of anti-LGBT rhetoric. Sections such as “homosexual recruitment” provide detailed information regarding the arguments made by social conservatives, while the “effects” section only provides a quick sentence stating that homophobia results in substantial effects towards one’s health and welfare. This goes to show that this article tends to put too much weight on specifics attributes within anti-LGBT rhetoric, while neglecting to discuss the lasting effects that anti-LGBT rhetoric has on a specific individual and society. I also found that the section “homosexuality as a lifestyle” did not provide enough information to fully understand the concept at hand, since it is a major concept that Christian Rights activists worry about.

The tone and balance of this article is in fact very strong. The article is written from a neutral point of view and no heavily biased claims are made towards a particular position. All viewpoints seem to be presented equally and the article does not attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position from another.

This article is composed primarily of academic and peer-reviewed sources from a diverse spectrum of authors. All of the links seem to work, and the information seems reliable. However, sometimes it is confusing to try and understand where some of the information came from within this article. For example, within the “As Western ill” section, the statement is made that “Homosexuality is sometimes claimed to be non-existent in some non-Western countries, or to be an evil influence imported from the West.” Although it is likely that these claims do exist, there is no specific source directly backing this statement, but rather an array other sources throughout the section. This made it difficult to differentiate and determine which source backed the statement. Nonetheless, this article still provides the best sources available for the topic at hand and the issue lies more in how these sources are organized.

This article consists of professional writing and the content is well organized. As I previously discussed, the only issue that I found in the organization of this article is the way sources were organized, since it is sometimes difficult to figure out where specific information is coming from.

In its’ entirety, this article provides well-rounded content towards the topic of anti-LGBT rhetoric and has a diverse set of sources defending its’ claims. The only issues that I found was regarding the organization of the article, as well as the fact that sometimes too much weight was put on one section while neglecting another. In order to avoid this moving forward, more research needs to be done overall regarding sections such as the effects of anti-LGBT rhetoric, as well as numerous other subsections. Furthermore, sources need to be clearly placed immediately after a statement is made and not later on in the section to avoid any confusion. ~