User:MEvers15/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Rick Riordan

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article to evaluate because I recall reading several of Rick Riordan's fantasy novels/series as a child and young adult. This article is important because it provides the biography and works of the author behind many popular children's fantasy stories. My preliminary impression of it is that, while it covers the books he has written and the awards he has won, it fails to devote enough time on Riordan's life and his writing process. Comparing his Wikipedia page to that of other prominent fantasy authors such as J.K. Rowling, his is significantly lacking.

Lead section
The first sentence is simple, but generally introduces the idea that the article will be about the American author, Richard Riordan. One way to improve the sentence is to include the fact that he tends to go by Rick and publishes his books under that name - Rick Riordan. The lead section only contains information on the books he has written, nothing regarding his early life, inspiration, influences, or other personal details. The lead includes information that is present in the article and is fairly concise, but it only focused on his career and not his actual life.

Content
The article fails to include specifics on Riordan's personal life. Life and career is one large section as opposed to being broken into smaller sections such as early life, inspiration, family specifics, etc. I believe a section on reception and filmography should also be included in the article, as well as a section on the style and themes within his novels. The most recently cited reference is from 2019, but a significant portion of the references are from 2015 or earlier. Therefore, I would consider the content slightly out-of-date. The article does not deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps, but I'm not sure that is necessary here as Riordan is a white American male author writing fantasy novels. Perhaps one consideration could be the lack of diversity within his novels or the more Western focus of his novels (Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian).

Tone and Balance
The article appears to be neutral and states claims without taking a particular position. There does not seem to be an attempt to persuade the reader to view Riordan in a particular light - his life and works are stated in a fairly straightforward manner.

Sources and References
The sources consist primarily of news coverage (Publishers Weekly, The Boston Globe, Fox News, The Guardian, USA Today) or Rick Riordan's own website. All facts appear to be backed up by a secondary source, but the sources aren't particularly current (the latest is 2019 but many are from 2015 or earlier). In a preliminary search, it appears that there aren't many sources directly offering information on Rick Riordan's personal life aside from his website and the cited news coverage. However, there have been some literary articles written about Riordan and his works that may offer additional information and insights into Riordan and what he aims to do with his writing. These articles were not included in the Wikipedia article, but found in my own light research on the Lauinger Library website. The links in the Wikipedia article work.

Organization and writing quality
The article is well-written and simple. It is clear and easy to read. There are no obvious spelling or grammatical errors and the breakdown of the article is helpful. My one complaint would be that it still feels to be lacking in certain areas. There should be an expanded focus on the filmography as well as brief explanations of each of the novels as opposed to just links out to their respective Wikipedia pages. There should also be a section on reception, style/themes, and greater details in the personal life section.

Images and Media
There are three images included in the article. The first is of Rick Riordan in 2018 at BookExpo America. The second is of his signature on the title page of one of his books. The third is an image of Riordan in 2007 taken while he was doing publicity for one of his books. The images are well-captioned and adhere to copyright regulations. The article could include images of some of Riordan's more popular novels so readers may be able to visually recognize the books (if they fail to recall them from simply the title). It may also help enhance the understanding of his role as a children/young adult author and of a fantasy author.

Talk page discussion
The article is rated as B-class. It is part of several WikiProjects such as Children's literature, WikiProject United States, WikiProject Novels, and WikiProject Biography. Conversations on the talk page include discussions of the proper way to pronounce Rick Riordan's last name, updating the information on his works (a work that was left out, a work that was included but not written by him, the classification of some of his novels, etc.), and the lack of biographical information.

Overall impressions
The article is good in that it provides a list of his works and the awards he has won. It includes some details about his personal life and his inspiration for writing Percy Jackson, but it fails to truly be a complete biography of Rick Riordan as a person. It focuses too heavily on his works and not enough on the ideas behind them or Riordan's personal life. I would consider the article to be underdeveloped, lacking several necessary sections that I have noted above.