Talk:Themes in Maya Angelou's autobiographies/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Maclean25 (talk · contribs) 03:04, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

Good article review (see Wikipedia:What is a good article? for criteria)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

   2 images used

File:Angeloupoem.jpg commons-hosted public domain

File:Porgyandbess.gif copyrighted, needs fair use rationale

1. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

Notes

• 1a. Please clarify, the use of "black" and "Black" - is there a difference being made here?

There is. As explained here [1], I follow Dr. Angelou's usage. When the word isn't capitalized, it's a quote and the original is followed. I re-checked, and there were a few errors, and they're been corrected. Thanks.

• 1a. "...during her brief tour of Venice and Berlin for The Blacks revival." - what is "The Blacks"?

Oh, sorry. Much of the content here was originally in Maya Angelou, so I forgot about introducing it here. Clarified and wikilinked.

• 1b. WP:LEADSENTENCE should be improved. Specifically define the subject of the article in the lead sentence. "The themes of MA autobiographies are xxxx".

Got it.

• 2b. In "Racism", why use quotes for "central image"? Why is this term important enough to quote? If you think it is important enough to quote, then directly cite it. Also, "universal themes" seems like an unnecessary quote.

Fixed, put the attributions at the end of the sentence but now after the direct quote.

• 6a. Copyrighted image used without independent fair use rationale

Added FUR. -Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 15:29, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

You will have to do some fancy writing to justify the use of this image. The photo is only discussed in the caption. Porgy and Bess is only briefly mentioned in the article (and definitely not the 1935 production). I don't see how the understanding of the article is enhanced by this copyrighted image. If a copyrighted image is going to be used, it would be better to use that relates to one of the themes, like Angelou travelling or of her family. -maclean (talk) 03:46, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

I stand by its inclusion. Porgy and Bess is very important in Angelou's third autobiography. Her description of her tour with the show takes up 40% of the book, which is discussed in the second paragraph of the "Travel" section in this article. I admit that I've struggled with images for all of Angelou's articles; my druthers is if we had a map of all the places she ever visited in her books, but that's above my technical ability. User:Scartol has offered to do it for me, so hmm, I think that I will ask him again. For now, and because I strongly believe that an image should never get in the way of an article's progress, I'll remove it and see what they say at FAC.

Fair enough. I am passing this version of the article. An image of Angelou's Porgy and Bess may be informative, but this 1935 image is not useful. It is like using an image of A Perfect Murder in the Themes and plot devices in the films of Alfred Hitchcock article. maclean (talk) 19:39, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the review and for the helpful comments. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 15:29, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

Conclusion.

Only the use of the image identified above is standing in the way of GA status. The writing is excellent. This would do well at FAC. maclean (talk) 03:46, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, that's so nice! How'd you know that was my intention? ;) Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 17:44, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

I didn't know. It's just something I say when I review an article that exists on the upper end of the GA class. I don't advocate going to FAC, but if you want to try it, this article would likely pass. maclean (talk) 19:39, 22 September 2012 (UTC)