User talk:Parkerstinski/sandbox

Feedback
Generally you are doing a great job, and the article is on the right track. The last paragraph in your lead section is unnecessary; this paragraph makes it sound like you are writing an essay, which you are not. Not having this comparison focus may also help you stay neutral, because comparison statements often appear biased. With that said in the country specific sections you do not need to make comparison between countries. For example in the Uruguay section you don’t need to say that the age difference is 3 years younger, but the connection about using the drinking age could be kept, because it appears to be a standard that is being applied when determining legal age. To do a better job at staying neutral you really only have to look at a few sentences in each paragraph, many of them begin to editorialize, which is what you want to avoid. Saying things like “this is interesting” or “the irony” will take you away from a neutral tone. My suggestion is to read it, and if it reads like you would have written it in an essay to help support your thesis, and it is not a fact, it’s not neutral. As for citing your sources, the way you’ve done it so far is good, if you want to use the source again you should use the ref name feature on the reference template, and once it’s been cited the first time you can simply use the name by coding “< ref name=whatever you named it > ” (no spaces between the <> and the words) this will cite the same source again, and the same number as the first time you cited it should appear. If you need help with this feel free to email me to set up a time to work on it. Kjatczak (talk) 19:20, 31 October 2015 (UTC)

Quick request
Can you put more in your "feedback needed" about what you need help with in terms of organization and content? The NPoV request was a good call. You're making great progress - use Kayla's feedback to move onward. Prof.Vandegrift (talk) 14:22, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Feedback for your article: Sophia Ottomanelli
Hey Parker,

So I thought that your page was really interesting and that you have good content. I like the three countries that you chose and the fact that you did make comparisons, but I would follow what Kayla said in regards to that because I feel like she knows more about that than I do.

General Comments About Article: In terms of your overview paragraph, is this going to be your lead paragraph? If it is, I would not label it overview but simply format it in the way that other WP pages do. Also, I think that you need to cite a lot of your sentences because they make claims but have no proof that they are correct. I know that you asked for help on how to reuse sources and all you do is, go to the citation tab and click on "reuse source" and then all your sources will come up and you just click on the one you want to use.

Overview:
 * Your first sentence sounds like an opinion. Do you have a source that says cannibas has been in great debate?
 * "Studies have shown" is a weasel phrase: What are the studies? Who are they done by?
 * When you say, "extremely important", this sounds like an opinion, can you rephrase?
 * When you say, "it is also acknowledged" can you by whom it is acknowledged?
 * I think that the second part of your last sentence is a judgement, not neutral language, can you rephrase?

U.S.
 * Do you have any statistics that you could bring in about how many youth are doing cannibas in the U.S. One source that I found that talks about this is:http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-scope-marijuana-use-in-united-states.
 * I would delete the first sentence of your 3rd Paragraph and just start with "Medical cannibas....." because I think it would make this paragraph stronger.
 * Do you have any facts on how many youth get the drug illegally?
 * Is cannibas use among youth more prevalent in the states that made it legal? Are there any stats?
 * When you say, "evidence has shown," what is that evidence?
 * What are the social pressures you are referring to at the end of this section?

Uruguay
 * Does the "law" have a name and can you hyperlink it?
 * When you say, "data has shown," what is this data?
 * I would check to make sure that you can use phrases like "one can" or "one should" because this sounds like an opinion.
 * Change the phrase "many individuals" because that is a weasel phrase
 * What are the "many concerns" you are referring to, who has these concerns?

Netherlands
 * What are the studies that your refer to in your first sentence of your second paragraph?
 * Do you have any statistics on how many youth use cannibas in the Netherlands?

Points for Further Research if you want: You could maybe start with a section on how cannibas use affects youth's health:https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/marijuana You could also find out how many youth in the countries you talk about are in jail for possession or use of the drug You could talk about who the most common suppliers are for youth in terms of cannibas

Good Luck!! SophiaOtto9 (talk) 22:17, 12 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Thank you so much, Sophia! I would love to sit down with you and talk about this some more. I have edited my page and I think it is ready for the first draft. However, I am still struggling with my lead paragraphs. Any suggestions? -Parkerstinski (talk) 07:03, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

Peer Review
Hey Parker! Here's some feedback for you. I broke it up by your lead section, other sections, and a final paragraph of suggestions.

Lead section: -I would try to add more concrete evidence.

-Avoid saying “studies”- what studies?

-Avoid words such as “extremely”- Puffery words

-I don’t know if this is allowed or not, but I would try to reduce the use of “one’s”. It seems vaguer than other words that could be used.

- The lead paragraph makes me interested but also doesn’t lay out the structure as much. After looking at other articles, the lead paragraph seems to be a condensed version of the entire article, so maybe try to write it more like that. I would try to add more facts and talk more about what you are going to discuss in each section as an overview rather than examining and analyzing each of the topics- leave that for the sections later.

Sections: -I think adding subsections would help with these sections. Here are some possible ideas:

United States: leave the first section as almost a lead section to this section, Medical Use, Recreational Use, Effects on Minors

Uruguay: Legality (Talk about how it is completely legalized. Add more facts on this), Oppositions, Effects on Minors

Netherlands: Legality (Explain how it is legal), Coffee Shops, Effects on Minors

Over all for the sections, I think that you have a lot of good research and information in them, but I would make it more concrete. Less interpretation and more backed by facts and studies to make the article more like an article and not an analysis paper. People should use your facts to write their analysis/argument paper. I think it is definitely global enough, but I would strive to play up the youth part more. Make sure that you avoid words like “extremely”, “despite”, “many”, “often”, “struggle” to keep a NPoV. Your content and what you chose to use is very neutral, but make sure that your word choice matches that neutrality. Make sure you go back and put in those citations (I know you marked that as something that you need to do though). Make sure you keep your tone formal and impersonal. It can sometimes seem a little informal like you’re writing an essay or analysis than a hard research article. I like your idea of drug education and would either make that its own subsection in each of the sections or add it into the possible “Effects on Minors” subsections. Make sure whenever you say “studies show” or “evidence has shown” to be specific in what that information has said, don’t be so vague.

Overall I really like your article and the content you have so far! Keep on keeping on! Mbaltas1 (talk) 21:15, 13 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Hi! Thank you so much for your constructive criticism. It helped me SO much! --Parkerstinski (talk) 07:04, 18 November 2015 (UTC)