User:Ssarahkerr/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: Medieval art
 * briefly describe why you chose this article: It relates to the broad class topic.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Lead evaluation
The lead starts with an introductory paragraph that describes the era, regions, and categories within Medieval Art. It introduces the classifications, mediums, and origins of medieval art, topics which are covered in the sections of the article.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Content evaluation
The content is very detailed in terms of different movements and regions of western Medieval art but seems to overrepresent western art. The article is titled Medieval art but it says that Islamic art during the middle ages falls outside the scope of the article.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Tone and balance evaluation
The "subsequent reputation" section seems to be pretty opinionated about the underrepresentation of medieval art in art history, but it does provide sources for this stance. The Jewish portrayals in Medieval Christian Art section seems very opinionated as well but again, it seems to be true as history is not neutral...

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?
 * 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?

Sources and references evaluation
There are some parts of the article that say "example needed" and in general it seems like there are less citations than there should be -- it is a very long article and there are only 52. Furthermore, certain authors are cited multiple times, and the most recent source is from 2007, the rest are pretty old. There are a lot of links to other articles which is good.

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?

Organization evaluation
I see some minor grammatical errors, such as typos and missing commas. The sections make sense but the order is weird -- subsequent reputation should maybe be last? And there should maybe be a future influence section since that is the topic the lead ends on.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Images and media evaluation
There are a lot of photos that are well captioned and illustrate the points of the article.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Talk page evaluation
There seems to be debate about terms like "Gothic" and about the reliability of sources in the article, it seems people have added information without references often. Someone claims the article is a "battle of egos between two highly experienced editors... over the issue of Muslim culture". The section on Islamic art seems to be the most problematic.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Overall evaluation
The article is C- class and needs better organization, more sources, and grammatical editing. It has been edited recently often, so it seems to be a work in progress.

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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