Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/The Coral Island - 2

The Coral Island

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add   to the top of the discussion and   at the bottom, then complete a new nomination underneath. To do this, see the instructions at TFAR nom/doc.

The result was: not scheduled by Gog the Mild (talk) 12:26, 25 April 2021 (UTC)



The Coral Island (1858) is a novel written by Scottish author R. M. Ballantyne. One of the first works of juvenile fiction to feature exclusively juvenile heroes, the story relates the adventures of three boys marooned on a South Pacific island, the only survivors of a shipwreck. A typical Robinsonade – a genre inspired by Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe – and one of the most popular of its type, the book first went on sale in late 1857 and has never been out of print. Among the novel's major themes are the civilising effect of Christianity, 19th-century British imperialism in the South Pacific, and the importance of hierarchy and leadership. It was the inspiration for William Golding's dystopian novel Lord of the Flies (1954), which inverted the morality of The Coral Island. The novel was considered a classic for primary school children of the early 20th century in Britain, and in the United States it was a staple of suggested reading lists for high-school students. Modern critics consider The Coral Island to feature a dated imperialist view of the world, but it was adapted into a four-part children's television drama broadcast by ITV in 2000.
 * Most recent similar article(s): no novel revently, just a poem
 * Main editors: Drmies, Eric Corbett
 * Promoted: January 2014
 * Reasons for nomination: This is the second nomination, after the first - also by me - in 2015. Then I said "why not?" - Good literature, good article writers.
 * Support as nominator. Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:34, 14 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Comment: I was under the impression that it is discouraged to re-run an article on the main page unless there is a more specific reason (like a big anniversary or something). It did run on the front page roughly six years ago, but I would think other articles would be considered first. Aoba47 (talk) 21:37, 18 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Another reason is topic balance, - we have more articles on battles than literature. There's no specific date attached to this one, so waiting for that anniversary will take forever. Up to the delegates. I proposed Carmen, and it was run. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:55, 18 March 2021 (UTC)
 * I do not think that is a strong enough reason to run this article on the main page for a second time, especially when there are literature articles that have not been featured on the main page even once. I understand the importance of topic balance, especially since a majority of the work coming from recent FACs are from specific areas/topics like military history, but I oppose this one for the reasons I have provided above. I very well could be in the minority on this, but this is just my opinion. Aoba47 (talk) 01:37, 19 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Oppose, see TFAR instructions: “If you have an exceptional request that deviates from these instructions (for example, an article making a second appearance as TFA, or a ‘double-header’), please discuss the matter with the TFA coordinators beforehand.” We have plenty of articles that have never run TFA; re-running one that ran only six years ago is not optimal, especially when it is an older FA that hasn’t yet been vetted at WP:FAR or WP:URFA/2020.  Sandy Georgia  (Talk)  07:24, 19 March 2021 (UTC)