User:Nashalskya1/sandbox

This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Zimbabwe

We chose this article because the topic is very underrepresented and seemed interesting. This article was also ranked as a Start Class so that there is still room for improvement.


 * Name of article: (link)
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.

Lead
Guiding questions

The introductory sentence did not do a good job at introducing the topic of the article. This introduction simply said that the music of Zimbabwe includes elements of folk and pop, and does not really introduce what the music of Zimbabwe really is. The lead does not mention any of the major sections of the article and begins the lead speaking of music as a whole, which does not remain relevant to the rest of the article. The lead is still fairly concise and to the point. I think the leading paragraph contains useful information but could be displayed a little more organized, and more straight to the point.


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Content
Guiding questions

The content of the article is very relevant to the topic and remains up to date. The only thing I find odd about this wikipedia page is that it only covers the different music genres or styles, but after doing some research on music in Zimbabwe it is clear that music is used as a weapon for the people who cannot afford guns. Bob Marley spent thousands of dollars sending musical equipment over to Zimbabwe to make a concert hall that could potentially compare to Madison Square Garden. An article from the New York Times mentioned a type of music called Chimurenga, meaning the music of struggle, and how this music gave hope to the freedom fighters that wanted to resist white oppression in Africa. I feel like this topic is very underrepresented in the wikipedia article, as there are only three sentences on the topic, and it appears that the Chimurenga is a very important part to Zimbabwe culture. This is just one of the topics of the article, but each subtitle only covers the bare minimum of that topic, and only focuses on the mbira.


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Tone and Balance
Guiding questions

The article is spoken very neutrally and mainly focuses on descriptions of what the music sounds like. I do feel that the lack of claims toward a specific side take away from the effect music has on the people of Zimbabwe, and he article probably needs to include more of the viewpoints from the Zimbabwe people. Despite this lack of personalization, the article does a good job at remaining unbiased and making sure not to persuade the reader in one direction or another.


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References
Guiding questions

The facts in the article all appear to be backed up by reliable sources. Many of the sources are articles from a newspaper or magazine, but there are some sources that come from scholars. The article has a very diverse spectrum of authors and do not rely too heavily on one source for information. There is a link available for further reading, and the links for all of the articles that were checked. After clicking through the links for the information, I noticed that the information was a good mix of sources, and the previous editors did a really good job at picking out information from a variety of sources. This helped protect the article from any biases that one individual source may have.


 * 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?
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization
Guiding questions

The article was written pretty well for the information it has, and it flows very smoothly. I feel like the information there is very concise and focuses on coving the basics of the music genres. There appear to be no spelling or grammatical errors in the article. The idea of the articles organization is good, but I feel like there are a lot of topics that all do not contain any substance at all. When looking at the subtitles Tuku Music, ZimDancehall, and Rumba, there are only two lines of writing, and do not give a clear picture at all of what those topics consist of. The sections themselves are very clear and easy to organize, but the editing needs to find more information on these topics specifically.


 * 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

Yes, there are multiple images that enhance the understanding of the topic. All captions explain what is going on in the image or what exactly the image is, and or where it's taking place. They do follow the Wikipedia copy right violations. The images do look and seem appealing, however I would maybe try to add more if possible.


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Checking the talk page
Guiding questions

There aren't many conversations about the topic, but the main focus in the talk page discusses some information taken out back in June of 2016 and how they removed critical information. The talk page also advises not to overwhelm the article with the topic of the mbira. The article has been a part of three separate WikiProjects and is rated as a start-class of high importance. The amount of talk pages are good for the article because it appears that multiple people have combined their ideas, but they are right about the main focus on the mbira and how that is not what this article should be focusing on as much.


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Overall impressions
Guiding questions

The article's overall status is a start-article, but we feel that they have a good amount of information to begin deeper research from. The strengths of the article are how many types of music were discussed and how in depth the writing about the mbira is. The article can be improved by going more in depth with the music types and the affects the music has on the overall culture of the Zimbabwe. I think the previous editors did a really good job setting a base about the music of mbira, but I would love to personally go in and finish their research for them. The article is fairly well-developed, and would do a good job at giving someone general knowledge about the music of Zimbabwe.


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Optional activity

 * 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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