User talk:A symmetrics/sandbox

Hi Shannon, Glad to see you found so many areas in which to improve the article you selected for evaluation! And yes, the talk page can be intimidating, so it's wise to know what you are possibly getting yourself into by investigating this aspect of your article. Can you tell me which articles you ultimately select for area and sector? I encourage you to edit and contribute to as many articles as you like, but this will help us determine what to focus on for the sake of the wikipedia assignments. Great work so far, happy sailing! -Momo Sumomox4nouchi (talk) 00:42, 8 February 2019 (UTC)sumomox4nouchi

Scholarly Sources
Hi Shannon, your research progress is phenomenal. As for the scholarly sources section of your sandbox, could you separate the articles based on which fall into area and sector? This will help me keep track and also help you for your upcoming beginning bibliography assignment. Thanks. -Momo Sumomox4nouchi (talk) 23:31, 2 March 2019 (UTC)sumomox4nouchi


 * hey momo! i'm now actually building a new article within which both area and sector will be contained, so my research applies predominantly to both. the article will be on athens refugee squats, and a pro user helped me out by giving me a framework to build it in. for area i'll explore the conditions under which the squats came to be, and for sector i'll dive into their functional operations. i already cleared this with clare, since it's not the usual way of things. <3 A symmetrics (talk) 07:06, 3 March 2019 (UTC)

Rudy's Peer Review
Hi Shannon!

You're writing a new article! Thank you for venturing out like that! So I see that you have the beginnings of a lead in section and it starts out wonderfully. You begin with an event to set and contextualize your jump off point for the rest of your article. I also see that you've begun to consider the areas you want to expand upon for the lead in from the background section. Looks good!

Looks like so far the rest is going to be examples of these squatter settlements with the main section so far being the City Plaza Hotel.

'''Activists and refugees have coordinated to organize and maintain the Hotel as an alternative to state-run camps, focused on promoting the autonomy and political agency of the residents. The City Plaza Hotel has also served as a hub for many kinds of radical activity, and residents have participated in [TKTK].''' For the most part your tone so far seems neutral and carefully written. I only feel that I am hesitant when I read "radical activity", but I feel that is mostly due to the lack of citation in that sentence and the previous one. Adding a source for both would offer good support for the claims you have so far.

A working group of residents and activists convenes to select occupants for available rooms. City Plaza, Notara 26, Oniro, Spyrou Trikoupi, Arahovis, 5th School, Jasmin School and Acarchon 22 have banded together into an organization called the Coordination of Refugee Squats.[1] This residence and the others mentioned seem to be very functional and seem to work in a cooperative and collective style. It reminds me of the research my methodologies group is doing on the Berkeley Free Clinic. I would love to read more about other ways they make their arrangements work as people come and go and perhaps ways they have run into some issues to balance out the perspectives of how these residents are received both from within and without.

Overall, wow! You look like you have A LOT of really great source material and your S&S section looks very well thought out and developed. I'm really looking forward to how it will look when it's all added in the drafting section. Making a new article is no easy task, so I applaud the clear effort that has been put in thus far!--Fitoarevalo (talk) 19:35, 4 April 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks Rudy, I'm feeling a little bogged down by how much amazing source material I've uncovered, so I'm not as far along as I would like. Thanks for your feedback! <3 A symmetrics (talk) 20:37, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

Mira's Peer Review
Looks like you've done a ton of research and have great ideas for this article!

Sources & Synthesizing
Wow, you have so many interesting sources! I really like how you've formatted the synthesizing section, it shows clearly how the various sources work together and could be incorporated into drafting. All three area articles synthesized so far seem to work very well together. The Maniatis piece will be great for the background section, to lead into the example of the City Plaza Hotel. The Agustín, Óscar García; Jørgensen, Martin Bak source seems to have a lot of good information about the development of squats in Greece and how this whole movement/revolution has evolved. I think the point about older refugees standing in solidarity with newer refugees is really interesting. Could definitely work a lot of that information directly into your drafting section about City Plaza Hotel. Your sector sources also seem to fit well into your drafting plan. The Lafazani article and the challenges that the squats have faced could maybe even make a subsection. The Charalampos article could fit into the Background section, maybe taking a look at the various options that refugees have when they enter Greece: UN camps, squats etc... and why people choose each. Overall, you have great information in synthesizing, just translate over to drafting and you will be well on your way!

Drafting
I really like all of the sections that you have outlined in drafting and are planning on writing. I would definitely focus your energies on the "City Plaza Hotel" and the "Other Squats" sections as those are probably the most novel and relevant to your PE. The issues you outlined in the "Background Information" are obviously important, but you can link to other articles to conserve time. The initial development of the concept of refugee squats would be interesting to outline though in "Background." Great encyclopedic tone in your sentences so far. Cite these two sentences, "Activists and refugees have coordinated to organize and maintain the Hotel as an alternative to state-run camps, focused on promoting the autonomy and political agency of the residents. The City Plaza Hotel has also served as a hub for many kinds of radical activity, and residents have participated in [TKTK]."

Looks great, congrats!

Morgan's Peer Review
Hi Shannon! I love what you have so far and am so excited to see what else you will add. This article seems well structured and follows a very logical flow. The lead definitely hooks me and orients me with enough information so that I can better understand the article!

The tone of the article so far is quite neutral which is awesome. One adjustment regarding tone is giving examples of what is meant by “radical activity” in the City Plaza Hotel Section. You could maybe just emphasize what you mean by “radical” – I think it means different, new, progressive – because it could be read as more normative than descriptive. I think the background section could also fall prey to some normative claims since problematic policies and government failures are a major factor in the presence of these squats. There are material realities and effects but also lots of politically charged conceptions about what happened and why. As long as the article is specific about what happened, as well as how various policies hurt people or didn’t meet their goals and is well cited (or makes points “according to XYZ…”), I think it’ll sound neutral. For the sake of neutrality and balance, it would also probably be helpful to address multiple political, historical, and/or theoretical perspectives if you do start to get into less objective territory. I wish you the best of luck balancing that line!

Some things I am hoping you will add/Questions I have: Definition of a squat in the lead section and how they compare to state-run camps Repeat and expand on the phrase “Long Summer of Migration” in the Background What laws are in place that either hinder or allow squats/squat activity? (and is that question even relevant to the discussion or topic?) What opposition exists, if any, against these communities? In the City Plaza Hotel section – why a focus on that squat more than the others you list later?

I admire you for filling this hole in Wikipedia and taking on such an extensive project! You’ve definitely nailed tone and encyclopedic writing so far, and I’m excited to see read it once it’s finished! Mjb399 (talk) 23:08, 4 April 2019 (UTC)Morgan

Responding to Peer Review
Really appreciated the thoughtful responses that my classmates had! Have been feeling a bit buried by the volume of source material but their comments are super encouraging and it's helpful to have some new eyes on the materials!

Following Mira's suggestion, I found a new source from the European Parliament detailing what their think tank researchers came up with in terms of possible solutions to the crisis. Super helpful!

I definitely still have a lot of work to do and want to do the subject justice, so having everyone's suggestions on which things to focus on is extremely helpful. I know I will have to accept that I won't have time to do anything extremely comprehensive within the scope of the class, but while I hope to be able to continue to build on this article over time, I am glad to have some direction in the short term. — Preceding unsigned comment added by A symmetrics (talk • contribs) 16:39, 11 April 2019 (UTC)