User:JenniferMGA/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article

• Name of article: Norris Church Mailer
• Why was this article chosen?
  • The Norris Church Mailer article was chosen by my Professor. Evaluating this article is part of my NMAC 5108 (Spring 2020) week two assignment.

Lead

The Lead has a clear and concise introductory sentence. It introduces the "who (Norris Church Mailer), when (date of birth and death), and what (her occupations)."

Lead evaluation

I think the Lead does a good job at being neutral and factual. At the moment there isn't a brief description of the article's major sections unless the Table of Contents qualifies as one. Perhaps the headings could be "(1) Early Life, (2) Career, (2a) Novelist, (2b) Model, (2c)Actress, (2d) Model, (3) Marriage to Norman Mailer, (4) Health Issues & Death, (5) Legacy, (6) Citations, (7) Works Cited." If a reader was to stumble upon this page, I believe the Lead is concise enough for them to grasp at a surface level who Norris Church Mailer is but the Table of Content could use a touch of clarification.

Content

The article's content is relevant to the life of Norris Church Mailer and it's presented chronologically from her early life to death and after although some clarification on the dates would be helpful (i.e. her time in New York). The content does seem somewhat up to date (see reference evaluation below) although I do see some sections that could be expanded on and/or clarified.

Content evaluation

The last sentence in Mailer's Early Life section could be expanded on. For example, instead of stating "everything changed when she met Norman Mailer" it could say "when she met Norman Mailer in 1980, her personal and professional life changed." Maybe not specifically the sentence I drafted but something along those lines so that we can avoid general statements. I think it might also help in comparing and contrasting her life before and after her marriage to Norman Mailer.

The sentence "After moving to New York, Barbara Davis changed her first name to Norris..." in the "Model, actress, and artist" section seems out of place. Seeing as how Norman Mailer influenced part of her name change, it might work out better to have this sentence moved to the "Life with Normal Mailer" section. It also coincides with her time in New York.

I've seen on other actors/actresses Wikipedia pages containing a table of contents for the films and shows they've been on. I wonder if it would be helpful to include a template on to this article's page. It might help to break up the long paragraphs of texts and provide links (if available) to the film(s) Wikipedia pages too.

The Legacy section could use some more content. I will try to contribute more to this section as part of my assignment.

Tone and Balance

The article seems neutral and unbiased. I don't feel particularly swayed one way or another to like or dislike Norris Mailer. When reading this article, I'm presented with facts rather than opinions.

Tone and balance evaluation

I think the article puts a healthy amount of weight on the more important aspects of Norris Mailer's life such as her marriage and career. Although if I could somehow reorder/restructure the headings a bit I think it might help with the tone and balance (and content). The Lead introduces her as a "novelist, actress, artist, and model" so maybe there should be a Career heading with each of those roles as sub-headings? Or maybe each of her roles should be a heading with subsequent information?

Sources and References

The few links I clicked worked but what I found odd was that the link to the "memoir" didn't bring me to a page for Norris Church Mailer's memoir, it brought me to the actual definition of a memoir. I can also see footnotes and links for facts written throughout the article and they all look like they're in the correct format.

Sources and references evaluation

Most of the sources were retrieved fairly recently (around 2018 and 2019) but the dates from the source themselves are fairly dated (some almost 20 years old). It makes me wonder if there's any updated articles/resources to bring the content more up to date.

Organization

I think I went into more detail about the article's organization in the previous headings but I do think the Table of Contents can be redone. Some parts of the article is easy to read but other parts could use some more detail. I'm still debating if my suggestions are more for my personal preferences or if they would be beneficial to the article and future readers. I'm interested in seeing what others on the Talk Page are saying/suggesting.

As for grammar and spelling, those aren't my strong suit so at my first couple readings of the article, I didn't catch any problems.

Organization evaluation

(Please see above.)

Images and Media

There's only one image which is of Norris Church Mailer. I think the image does a good job of showing the reader who they're reading about. When I click on the image it is listed on the Wikimedia Commons and is well-captioned.

Images and media evaluation

I don't think there's much for me to evaluate or improve on as far as images and media. Perhaps somewhere down the line it might be helpful to include a picture of her family or last husband, Norman Mailer.

Checking the talk page

This article is rated Start-Class, Low Importance for several WikiProjects. The way that Wikipedia discusses the topic is much more straightforward and goal-oriented. I think the Talk page serves as a discussion post with a clear purpose: to improve the article. I think for our class we're not just figuring out how to improve the article but also how to utilize and use Wikipedia. The talk page for us as a class is a learning zone and a collaborative brainstorming session.

Overall impressions

I don't think the article is quite complete but I do believe it's on the right track. I think the article is well-developed but it could use some more content and resources to fill in more about her life. What parts of her life is still a question I'm working on answering, I'm not entirely sure yet but I'm sure as I delve into some primary and secondary sources, I'll be able to contribute to the article more.

Overall evaluation

There are some organizational changes that can be made to the headings and the order of the content. Some users on the Talk page have mentioned adding more information about Norris Mailer's family (in particular her mother and children) which I think is a wonderful idea considering her role as a mother before she became a novelist, actress, model, and artist.

Optional activity

• Choose at least one question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page.
  • I chose the question: (1) How can the article's Organization be improved?

• Link to feedback: Talk:Norris Church Mailer