User:Marpodeschi/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: Curious George
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. In light of the podcast we listened to on day one of class.

Lead

 * Guiding questions

Curious George is the protagonist of a series of popular children's books of the same name, written by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey with illustrations by Alan J. Shalleck. George (who is referred to as a monkey in the books) was brought from his home in Africa by “The Man with The Yellow Hat.” They are best friends and they live together in a busy city. When the first story, Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys, was published in France in 1939, George was named Fifi.[1] In the United Kingdom, George was originally called "Zozo" in 1941, apparently to avoid using the name of the then King George VI for an ape.[1] Books featuring the adventures of Curious George have been translated from the original French into many other languages in addition to English. The books have been adapted into several television series and films.


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? Yes.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? Yes--the information about the names 'Fifi' and 'Zozo' do not appear later.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? It has slightly too much detail.

Lead evaluation
''It's a good lead overall. The information about the name origins should appear in Creation section.''

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes.
 * Is the content up-to-date? Yes, barring any new series that I haven't heard about.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? There is no mention of post-colonial criticism of George's problematic abduction.

Content evaluation
The article is accurate and reliable.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? Yes
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? Yes--cultural criticism of George.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? No.

Tone and balance evaluation
The article is neutral and provides accurate information about the Curious George character.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes.
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Yes.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? Well enough. They are tucked to the side and out of the way.

Images and media evaluation
I think this article would benefit from a few more images in the Other Media section.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? The two main debates in the Talk section are (1) whether George is a monkey or a juvenile chimp, and (2) whether or not cultural criticism of George is valid.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? It is rated B-High and is attached to the Children's Literature wikiproject.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? There is less consensus among Wiki authors than there was in our class regarding the racial imagery.

Talk page evaluation
''The talk page seems to be going back and forth on the cultural criticism of George as a racial metaphor. It seems like it may not have been given effective treatment in the first attempt.''

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? B
 * What are the article's strengths? Accurate history and a thorough review of its interpretations.
 * How can the article be improved? Find a way to frame the cultural concerns about George as a symbol of African imperialism.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? It's almost there.

Overall evaluation
''The Curious George article is accurate and what one would expect for an old children's book entry. It seems like cultural critique has been added and removed twice in the article's history--I wonder if this is related to previous TEP419 efforts or is connected to parallel research elsewhere?''

Optional activity (Opted Out)

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

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