User:MoBMila/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
(The Jesuit Relations)

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because reading excerpts from The Jesuit Relations was a very important aspect of earlier weeks in the class. The Jesuit Relations described first contacts between Jesuit missionaries and the indigenous populations in new France. As for my preliminary impressions, the article is fairly short and does not fully describe the nature of the reports or identify key figures. However, I did appreciate that prior authors of the article addressed criticism of the reports.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

In the lead section, the article does well to summarize what The Jesuit Relations concisely, it also gives an efficient outline of topics that will be addressed later in the article. I did not find that it included unnecessary details or information that was not explained later on. The content of the article is relevant, but lacks in detail. It could benefit from inclusion of key missionaries or indigenous people/groups. The "criticism" section was the most complete, offering a well-rounded point-of-view and taking time to acknowledge the lack of native perspective within the reports. I believe the article is neutral and balanced, no one perspective is favored over another. That said, it could benefit from further acknowledging the opinions of under represented groups. Sources are used well and all information is back up by academic literature that addresses the topic. It should be said that some cited articles are very old, and none of the cited articles were published within the last 20 years. The sources are not necessarily diverse (does not fully represent indigenous voices), but they are reliable (not random!) sources with properly working links.

The article is well written, it uses language that is formal, concise, and academic - but remains clear and easy to understand. I did not notice any spelling or grammatical errors, and the article is clearly organized into relevant sections. The article includes a single, captioned photo of the cover of The Jesuit Relations, I found that it to adds sufficient visual interest and adheres to copyright regulations. The talk page does not feature any conversations, though there is one constructive critique. The article is rated C and is part of four WikiProjects (Catholicism, Indigenous Peoples of North America, Unites States History, Canada/Quebec History). This article differs from class discussion because it provides a broad overview in contrast to the closer reading done in class. It is also less historically situated.

Overall, I found the article to be sufficient but not great. It is well-organized, well written, and neutral, but lacks detail. It could be improved by including more historical context and key figures/groups, in addition to better addressing indigenous perspectives. I would say this article is about 50% complete, and definitely underdeveloped. It is a solid start, and sufficient for anyone needing a quick explanation of the topic, but could include far more relevant info.