User:Ljw61/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Rick Riordan

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 the Wikipedia article on Rick Riordan because he is an author of a children's fantasy series. His page matters because it gives an inside look into a fantasy author. My preliminary impression of the article was that it was short but covers his personal life and a list of all of his work.

Evaluate the article
Lead: Content: Tone and Balance: Sources and References: Organization and Writing Quality: Images and Media: Talk Page Discussion: Overall Impressions:
 * Does the lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? -- The introductory sentence only says that Rick Riordan is an author. This could be more specific by saying his is a fantasy or fiction or mythology-based fiction author.
 * Does the lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? -- The article could have a more comprehensive description of the major sections. This could be done by mentioning how many books he has written.
 * Does the lead include information that is not present in the article? (It shouldn't.) -- No, the lead does not include information that is not present in the article.
 * Is the lead concise or is it overly detailed? -- The lead is a bit long (2 paragraphs). The first paragraph could have a little more of a description of the overall article and the second paragraph could become a new section called "Works" or something along those lines because it describes his major works (it doesn't just list them like the article does in another section).
 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? -- Yes, the content of the article is all relevant to Rick Riordan. It has a section on his Life and Career that describes how he got into writing as well as explaining his inspiration for his most famous series (The Percy Jackson series and the Tres Navarres series).
 * Is the content up-to-date? -- The content seems to be up-to-date in terms of Riordan's latest works. It is unclear whether or not there have been updates to his Life and Career section is fully up-to-date.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? -- None of the sections appear to not belong, but some of them could be more detailed/clear (like the imprint section).
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics? -- The article notes how Riordan's inspiration for the main character in Percy Jackson was his son who had been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, so one could say that this article discusses an author who is representing children with learning disabilities in his novels.
 * Is the article neutral? -- The article's tone is neutral and offers an objective summary of Riordan and his life and work.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? -- No claims seem heavily biased towards Riordan. There is no section discussing controversies or criticisms of Riordan. However, that could be because they do not exist and not because they are intentionally being left out.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? -- Due to the fact that this is a biography, it is difficult to determine whether or not the writing is a "viewpoint" or just a summary of historical/biographical facts.
 * Are minority or fringe viewpoints accurately described as such? -- There is little to no minority or fringe viewpoints present in the article.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? -- No, there is no persuasion in this article. It is just a biography of his work.
 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? -- The sources are relatively thorough
 * Are the sources current? -- The sources are all current to the times Riordan's works were published. So, parts of the article discussing Percy Jackson are cited with sources from the mid-2000s/2010s.
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible? -- Most of the sources are from Rick Riordan's personal website, which could suggest that a lot of this actually is biased.
 * Are there better sources available, such as peer-reviewed articles in place of news coverage or random websites? (You may need to do some digging to answer this.) -- No, there are not many peer-reviewed articles cited. The majority of the articles are from online newspapers or Rick Riordan's website.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? -- The links work!
 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? -- The article's organization makes it easy to follow. Certain parts could be a little more thorough (such as the Rick Riordan Presents section)
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? -- No overt grammatical or spelling errors.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? -- The article's organization could improve. The second paragraph could become a new paragraph called "Works" or "Summary of Works" because it makes the Lead a bit long and really doesn't contribute to an overview of the article overall.
 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? -- The article only has 3 images: 2 of Riordan and one of his signature. Images with the covers of his most famous series would enhance understanding of the topic.
 * Are images well-captioned? -- The three images are all well-captioned.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? -- Each image's citation gives credit to its rightful owner.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? -- The images could be better placed and there could be more so that the article is more visually appealing.
 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? -- The majority of topics on the talk page are about Riordan's personal life or any title of work that was left out of the article.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? -- The article's rating is B-class and is part of WikiProject Biography/Arts and Entertainment, WikiProject Children's literature, WikiProject Novels/Rick Riordan/39 Clues, and WikiProject United States/WikiProject San Antonio. The article was also listed as a level-5 vital article in People, Writers.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? -- We don't usually talk about specificities within the personal lives of the authors we read but that is a lot of what this talk page is about.
 * What is the article's overall status? -- I think this article covers all of its general bases but could be a bit more descriptive/in-depth at certain points.
 * What are the article's strengths? -- It has a good list of all of Riordan's works and has a section describing some of the personal influences on his writing.
 * How can the article be improved? -- My adding a section talking specifically about his work and what went into it (separate from the list of works and Life and Work)
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? -- I think it is right up there as well-developed but needs some tweaking.