User:Lucy920/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: (Bernart de Ventadorn)
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. Because it is a required assignment.

Lead
Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Not really. The first sentence is misleading. The use of “classical age” is a little bit confusing. When I see “classical age,” I would first relate to the period between the 8th century BC and the 6th century AD. It would thus cause some misunderstandings about the definition of troubadour and troubadour poetry. In the following sentence, “classical” reappears, and this time it refers to the “classical form” of courtly love poetry. Does it mean he establishes the canon of courtly love poetry in canso or in all other poetry genres that feature the theme of courtly love? Is the classical age equal to the golden age? These are something I feel a little bit confused.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? Yes, It contains a short description of who Bernart de Ventadorn is and what he is famous for, which gives readers some expectations of what his biography will look like.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? Yes, the second paragraph is strange and incoherent, which talks about women as the divine subject of his works. It is not clear to me what the dichotomy is. Does it refer to Adam's dichotomy (man) and Eve(woman) or the twist of a divine and evil woman? And I don’t see a counterpart section that fleshes it out in the content.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? It is concise overall.

Content
Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? It is quite relevant but not sufficient. Although it is a brief introduction to his life, some significant life events' timeline is still vague.
 * Is the content up-to-date? I don’t think so. It is at least not very new according to the date of references, in which the latest source is W. S. Merwin’s 2002 book "The Mays of Ventadorn." But the view history shows this article keeps being revised and edited recently.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? I notice that content does not further explain what robar leu style is and how Bernart realizes the popularization of robar leu style. Is robar leu style development of trouvère tradition (northern) or an origin from troubadour tradition (southern) or Bernart’s original creation? Was he famous for his creative melody or his establishment of a music genre like canso? I am still confused here.
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?  I don’t see any attempts that deal with equity gaps and addresses underrepresented populations. Actually, I have no sense about who historically underrepresented populations are in this topic and who is mostly likely to be oppressed in this context. Probably I am not qualified to answer this question.

Tone and Balance
Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? It is relatively neutral. It uses more fact-based materials than opinion-based narrative.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?  By validating Bernart’s extensive influence, it uses one quotation from Bologna professor Boncompagno. It sounds quite personal and biased because the authenticity of the source is still in doubt. There should be more concrete and compelling evidence regarding examples of circulation that demonstrates his authorship and influence for more credibility.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? The details about his poems, such as women as divine agents, have not been fully presented yet though it has been brought out in the Lead section. It seems that only part of his early life has been described and represented. It is still unknown what his childhood looked like and whether his early poem dedicated to his patron’s wife already predicts the “classical form” of courtly love poems. How does he develop the trouvere tradition in the canso? These are some viewpoints that are not fully represented.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? There are not many opinion-based positions, so the article overall just tries to portray Bernart de Ventadorn as a prominent troubadour.

Sources and References
Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?  The sources are mostly secondary sources based on academic books.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? I don’t feel qualified to answer this question.
 * Are the sources current? Not really. Some of the sources are quite old, such as Boase, Roger (1977). The Origin and Meaning of Courtly Love: A Critical Study of European Scholarship. Manchester: Manchester University Press, Hoppin, Richard H. (1978). Medieval Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Co; Lazar, Moshé, ed. (1966). Bernart de Ventadour: Chansons d'Amour. Paris: Klincksieck.
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible? Sources are diverse. But references are mainly based on one source: James J. Wilhelm’s “Lyrics of the Middle Ages”, which seems less diverse and compelling. I think I am not qualified to answer if the sources include any marginalized individuals.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? There are not many direct links on sources, but the links provided are valid and effective.

Organization
Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? It is not well-written. The organization is a little bit messy and the timeline of Bernart’s life story is not clear as well.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? I did not see any typos, but some of the word usage sounds not right. Some sentences are not complete and formal, but rather very colloquial, such as “About 45 of his works survive,” or “later still he went to Dordogne.” The last two paragraphs that talk about the modern-media production of Bernart appears abruptly without any lead-in phrases.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e., broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? Not really. It does not organize in a very coherent way but rather fall into fragments everywhere.

Images and Media
Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes. There are two relevant images included, which gives reader some sense of how Bernart and troubadour’s gathering looks like.
 * Are images well-captioned? I don’t think so. The description is very vague. It is no more than one generalized phrase.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? I think so. The first picture with the image of Bernart shows that it comes from Gallica Digital Library, a public domain. The second picture shows that it comes from your own work, by which you created it entirely yourself.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? The first one is not that appealing, while the second one is much more fun and lively, revealing some sense of “real-life” Troubadour gathering.

Checking the talk page
Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? I don’t know if I really understand the question but I guess the first conversation is about how to represent Bernart’s personality and his highlight of life events in a more neutral tone by connecting the dots between the stories. The second conversation is how to present his extensive influence on canso by giving concrete examples of circulation.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? It is all rated as Start-Class. It is within WikiProject Biography/Arts and Entertainment, WikiProject Composers, and WikiProject Medieval Music.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? It features extensive openness and participation around the globe. It allows anyone interested in this topic or specialists to expand and amplify the content and contribute to the Wikipedia community.

Overall impressions
Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? It is not that good enough, in which content is not sufficient, and the linkage of each paragraph and each sentence is not well-organized.
 * What are the article's strengths? Sentences are short, so it is easy for me to understand. It mentions not only the brief life and major contribution of Bernart de Ventadorn but also a small portion of reception history. It thus gives the readers some contemporary sense of Bernart de Ventadorn. The descriptions are concise enough as well.
 * How can the article be improved? The content regarding the description of Bernart’s life and his influence on canso needs to be amplified.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? It is underdeveloped overall. It needs to be further amplified.

Optional activity

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