User:Niamh Calder/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Scorched earth

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose the topic scorched earth because I wanted to understand humanity's inconceivable destructiveness. As an international development student, it is imperative to understand humanity's destructive nature in order to put maximum effort into conflict resolution. I just don't understand why such drastic tactics are used without considering adverse environmental impacts or the consequences of human trauma. I am somewhat familiar with the term and I know of the social consequences of scorched earth tactics and policies, but my understanding of the environmental aspects are developing.

Evaluate the article
Content

Overall, the content of the article is relevant and the information is somewhat up to date. There were a couple of sentences that were unnecessary and did not add to the article, for instance, "The concept of scorched-earth defense is sometimes applied figuratively to the business world in which a firm facing a takeover attempts to make itself less valuable by selling off its assets". The relevancy of a corporate takeover seems to be an overstretch. Although certain sections seemed redundant, the article focused an expansive period of time and explored multiple topics relating to scorched earth defense. The article comprehensively explores warfare tactics from ancient times to the 21st century. Topics such as environmental impacts of scorched earth tactics were not thoroughly examined.

Tone and Balance

The article is written from a neutral point of view and does not attempt to persuade the reader in favour of one position. The article follows the history of scorched earth warfare tactics and does not appear to be heavily biased. Also, the article examines how tactics have changed over time. The claims made are not heavily biased and supported academic literature. World War 2 was heavily featured in reference to scorched earth tactics. While important, it excludes present day conflicts that are leveraging scorched earth defense, for example the civil war in Sudan.

Organization and Writing Quality

The article follows events in chronological order and the writing is straightforward and to the point. I think the article is well written, because it was concise and easy to read. Some sections were long, but I was able to understand the topics relating to scorched earth defense. Although straightforward, I think there are ways to improve the article. For instance, adding more information in bare sections and removing redundant sentences. More information can be added to the 21st century section. While it seems the article is trying to be inclusive of "Native Americans," the section has used terminology that is a bit uncomfortable. I think more can said in this section.

Images and Media

Multiple images were used in almost every section of the article. Below every image includes a descriptive and relevant caption. Also, the images were laid out in a somewhat appealing away. All the images are located on the right side of the article and could be dispersed differently to make it look more visually appealing.

Overall Impressions

The content of article is good, but there are still areas that can be improved. For example, by adding more pictures, or by restructuring sentences. Certain sections are bare, but overall, the article covers multiple topics related to scorched earth defense. For example, tactics used throughout history and in present day.

Which article are you evaluating?
War and environmental law

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose the topic War and environmental law because I want to understand the relationship between war, politics and the environment. Although globally we have recognized the environmental crisis as an emergency, there seems to be less emphasis on the environmental impacts driven by war and conflict. The concept of war and environmental law is important as it includes the direct environmental impacts of war, but also includes the effect of military activity. I want to examine War and conflict through an environmental lens.

Evaluate the article
Content

The article's content is related to topic and gives further insight on environmental law although, there is limited information on sections relating to international environmental law. This vagueness does not provide specific examples of the application of environmental law. The article would have been more insightful if it had more specificity, so one could see how to leverage and generalize environmental law. The content is somewhat up to date, but references are limited. The article's lack of depth prevents it from being a fulsome piece of information, yet it is a good foundation to start further study.

Tone and Balance

The tone of the article is neutral and does not demonstrate a biased perspective. There are no claims that seem to be heavily biased towards a particular position. There are many direct quotations, but they are all correctly referenced and enhance the article.

Organization and Writing Quality

The article has been written well and sounds professional. The article is broken down into multiple sections, such as "Sources of rules" and "Application of Law". The article's subheadings are clear and well organized. Although the article was concise, the legal terminology and direct paraphrasing of legal documents made it confusing. One who is not familiar with legal terminology may find the article difficult to understand. There are certain sections I struggled to understand.

Sources and References

The article used very few references. One of the four references are relatively recent, but the other three sources are from the 90s and early to mid 2000s. Although limited range of sources, the claims made were usually referenced. The talk section of the wiki page shows that no other users have edited the article. The references are reliable and two of the references are UN documents. Reliable sources were used, but again, were limited.

Images and Media

The article does not include any images, graphs and media to convey complex concepts or to enhance understanding of the topic.

Overall Impressions

Overall, the article was interesting and well developed, but lacks depth. Despite having some complex terminology, the article was concise and direct. As mentioned, the article is a good starting point to war and environmental law.

Which article are you evaluating?
Chemical weapons in World War I

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose the article Chemical weapons in World War I, because of my interest in history. I can't imagine the shock of experiencing chemical weapons for the first time during the first World War. I also find it interesting that the United Nations banned chemical warfare, yet they continue to exists.

Evaluate the article
Content

The article starts off by giving background the history of ponies gas and how it was used throughout World War 1. The content of the article is all relevant and provides a thorough timeline of how chemical weapons were used, and the effects, during World War 1. The content is also all up to date and reliable references have been used. For example, peer-reviewed articles that are up to date and current. I do not believe there was any content or topics that were missing from the article. Overall, the content of the article is good.

Tone and Balance

The article is written from an unbiased point of view, does not make claims that appear to be heavily biased toward a particular position and does not in away try to persuade the reader. The article follows a timeline that focuses on the use of chemical weapons throughout World War 1 and also examines long term health effects and the type of gas that was used.

Organization and Writing Quality

The article was organized and written well. The article is broken down into multiple sections and reflects key concepts of topic. For instance, the section "History of poison gas in World War 1" examines the use of chemical weapons during World War 1. Furthermore, other sections discuss the long term health effects, the evolution of chemical weapons and issues regarding unexploded weapons. Each section was clear, concise and could be understood by a reader with limited or no knowledgable. When reading the article, I did not find any grammatical or spelling errors.

Images and Media

Multiple images and graphs were used throughout the article. Most of the images been properly referenced and are all related to the content. For example, images of "loading battery," and soldiers who had suffered from mustard gas burns. Most of the images adhere to Wikipedia's copy right claims and are laid out in a visually appealing way. A variety of images were used to enhance the article.

Overall Impressions

Overall, I thought the article was organized, well-written and easy to read. There isn't much I would change for this article. I would recommend re-structuring sentences and possibly using more references, but other than that, the article is well developed.