Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Peer review
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The peer review department of the Novels WikiProject conducts peer review of articles on request. The primary objective is to encourage better articles by having contributors who may not have worked on articles to examine them and provide ideas for further improvement.
The peer review process is highly flexible and can deal with articles of any quality; however, requesting reviews on very short articles may not be productive, as there is little for readers to comment on.
All reviews are conducted by fellow editors—usually members of the Novels WikiProject.
[edit] Instructions
[edit] Requesting a review
- Add
peer-review=yesto the {{NovelsWikiProject}} project banner at the top of the article's talk page (see the project banner instructions for more details on the exact syntax). - From there, click on the "request has been made" link that appears in the template. This will open a page to discuss the review of your article.
- Place
=== [[Name of article]] ===at the top. - Below it, note the kind of comments/contributions you want, and/or the sections of the article you think need reviewing and sign by using four tildes (
~~~~). - Add
{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Peer review/Name of nominated article}}at the top of the list of requests on this page.
If an article is listed for a second (or third, and so forth) peer review:
- Move (do not copy) the existing peer review subpage (Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Peer review/Name of nominated article) to an archive (Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Peer review/Name of nominated article/Archive 1).
- Follow the instructions for making a request above (editing Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Peer review/Name of nominated article, which will be a redirect to the archive, into a new request page).
- Be sure to provide a prominent link to the last archive at the top of the request (e.g. "Prior peer review here.").
[edit] Responding to a request
Everyone is encouraged to comment on any request listed here. To comment on an article, please add a new section (using ==== Your user name ====) for your comments, in order to keep multiple responses legible.
[edit] Archiving
Reviews should be archived after they have been inactive for some time, or when the article is nominated as a featured article candidate. To archive a review:
- Replace
peer-review=yeswithold-peer-review=yesin the {{NovelsWikiProject}} project banner template at the top of the article's talk page - Move
{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Peer review/Name of nominated article}}from this page to the current archive page.
[edit] Requests
[edit] A Tale of Two Cities
I have been working consistently on this article, and I believe I have improved it a lot, but I'm sure it has much further to go. I'm aiming for GA status, which would be one step up from where it is now, if I understand the system.
One problem I have as an author is dividing interpretation from fact. I often feel that facts about literary works only make sense in the context of interpretations. (I'm one who believes that some interpretations of a work are invalid, even though there are probably infinitely many valid ones, and also that some are better than others — I can't really defend this, of course, it's just my belief.) But I nonetheless expect I need to do a better job of keeping my own readings out of the article (even though they are supported by citations of prominent scholars). In particular, I'm afraid I may need to take out the "doppelganger" point about Carton and Darnay, which to me is really the key to the novel, so I'd hate not to be able to find some way to reference it - opinions welcomed).
The version of the article I inherited very much needed to Omit Needless Words, and also never used a ten-cent word when a twenty-five-cent word would do worse. So I'm sure there's much pruning and rephrasing that remains to be done.
The last issue is probably just one that Wikipedia will have to live with, which is that since this is the novel of Dickens's most commonly taught in high schools (in the United States, at least) it is subject to vandalism. And more interestingly, since the audience for this article is younger than that for many of the articles on Dickens's other novels, should it aim at more of a high school reading level?
Finally, are there whole sections I should remove or should add?
Thank you for your time.
DiderotWasRight (talk) 00:03, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
- Comments from Yllosubmarine
- First of all, more references and citations are a must. Quotes from the novel must be cited to a specific page number. The entire "Analysis" section contains only one citation, which runs the risk of others suspecting WP:OR. The "Themes" section has entire, chunky paragraphs without citations. As for the references, there must be more than six books to pull from? Just a quick search of the MLA database shows dozens of results of scholarly sources.
- The citation formatting is confusing; TOTC, I'm guessing, is the edition that is listed in "Bibliography"; this should be cited with "Dickens" to match the other surname refs. Also, what is the difference between "TOTC II.6" and "TOTC, Book 2, Chapter 8"? Is there a difference? In order to satisfy WP:CITE, specific page numbers should be used instead.
- I would remove "Relation to Dickens's personal life" and incorporate some of the more pertinent information into a "Background" section. The lead section touches upon the timeline and what makes this a historical novel, but it's not fully explained in the article. This info should be before the plot summary to better put things into context.
- What about a literary style section? Genre? How does this book define the historical fiction genre? What about Dickens' wordiness? What have critics said about these facets?
- The plot summary should definitely be parred down. I understand there's a ton to write about as far as plot details, but twenty separate paragraphs is overkill.
- If you're looking for more pics, I suggest using one of Dickens or even something about the French Revolution. There are tons available at the Commons.
- The opening – "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." – and closing – "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." – of the book are among the most famous lines in English literature: true, but it has a citation tag. Unless it can be qualified, it really serves no purpose, especially not solely in the lead.
- Speaking of the lead, please keep WP:LEAD in mind. It states that the intro section should be treated as a summary of the entire article. Several tidbits, such as the number of chapters and its publication history, are not mentioned in the article itself. Perhaps create a "Publication history" section?
- There's nothing about the novel's legacy, which I think is a shame. As you mentioned above, this novel is taught at the high school level and is highly respected. What place does it have in English literature?
- The "Adaptations" section should be in prose, not list format. This would give you an opportunity to plump up the novel's importance level with something along the lines of "A Tale of Two Cities has been adapted for the film and stage numerous times..."
This was only a quick review, but I hope it helps point you in the right direction. The most important thing to keep in mind is sourcing, sourcing, sourcing. I would suggest finding more scholarly sources, ensuring that there is at least one ref in every paragraph (except for the plot section, which is typically self evident; aside from direct quotations, of course). The prose seems wordy, but you already knew that; work on cutting the plot section down and developing more sections that not only help readers understand the historical/publishing context but also what this book's legacy has to offer. Best of luck, María (habla conmigo) 12:24, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
- Thank you; this is very useful. When citing a work that exists in many editions (such as Hamlet), authors often refer to "Act x Scene y" rather than to a page number. Since Tale also exists in many editions, is there a way I can cite page numbers but also give Book and Chapter for use with other editions? DiderotWasRight (talk) 01:43, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
- Direct quotes from Shakespeare's plays are typically referred to by act, scene and line numbers; in fact, I see a few cited that way over at Hamlet. I haven't read Dickens in a while, but it's strictly prose, yes? :) The key is that referencing should be as specific as possible for our purposes. This requires page numbers leading to your specific text in the Bibliography (WP:CITE#SAYWHEREYOUGOTIT). I personally do not see much of a reason for listing the book or chapter with the page number, since one seemingly denotes the other, but you could play with the formatting to see what makes the most sense. I can't find anything that says it isn't allowed. María (habla conmigo) 02:37, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
- I'm happy to give page numbers for every quote, but I would like to also include book and chapter numbers as well (Tale is in three "books," so a quotation might be from Book 2, Chapter 4). This would be so that a student who has the Dover edition of the text and wants to find a quote the Wikipedia article references will be able to find it at least roughly, even though I cite the Penguin edition. The book and chapter numbers are universal across all editions of the text; the page numbers are not. DiderotWasRight (talk) 04:07, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
- Direct quotes from Shakespeare's plays are typically referred to by act, scene and line numbers; in fact, I see a few cited that way over at Hamlet. I haven't read Dickens in a while, but it's strictly prose, yes? :) The key is that referencing should be as specific as possible for our purposes. This requires page numbers leading to your specific text in the Bibliography (WP:CITE#SAYWHEREYOUGOTIT). I personally do not see much of a reason for listing the book or chapter with the page number, since one seemingly denotes the other, but you could play with the formatting to see what makes the most sense. I can't find anything that says it isn't allowed. María (habla conmigo) 02:37, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
[edit] La Peau de chagrin
I've recently reconstructed this article, about the first book to establish Honoré de Balzac as a writer of substance. I'm going to take it to FAC, so thanks in advance for your comments! – Scartol • Tok 20:36, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Comments from Awadewit
Caption: 1897 title page image of La Peau de chagrin - Is the illustration from the title page or is it the frontispiece opposite the title page?
-
- I'm not sure. It's one of a series of illustrations in the Commons Balzac category. The description on the image's description page is all I have. – Scartol • Tok 15:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
He shared some of his income from these with his parents, but by 1828 he still owed them fifty thousand francs. - It is not clear earlier in the paragraph that he borrowed the money from his parents.
Literary tastes in France at the time were varied - This statement seems like it could be made of any nation at any time - perhaps something a tad more specific?
in a May 1830 article, Balzac used the phrase "literary weathervane" to describe the trends he foresaw in the coming years - "literary weathervane" isn't very clear to me
-
- Removed per above. I liked the phrase, but I don't think it's actually very useful. =) I think it had to do with him looking at four very different directions of literary approaches (the romanticism of Scott; the fantastic stuff mentioned in the article, etc). Like I said, more complex than we need to get into here, I think. – Scartol • Tok 15:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
- Balzac had used supernatural elements in the potboiler novels he published under noms de plume, but their presence in Peau de chagrin signaled a turning point in his approach to the use of allegory. - I think this turning point needs to be explained more clearly.
-
- Fair enough. I added two sentences to try to clear this up: "Whereas he had previously used fantastic objects and events in earlier works, they were mostly simple plot points or uncomplicated devices for suspense. With La Peau de chagrin, on the other hand, the talisman becomes a method of analyzing the real world." – Scartol • Tok 15:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
-
-
- Don't be silly; I would not have asked you to review the article if I didn't want you to be picky. =) I feel like this story is a superb example of the statement at the end of the lead in allegory:
the characters in a "naive" allegory are not fully three-dimensional, for each aspect of their individual personalities and the events that befall them embodies some moral quality or other abstraction; the allegory has been selected first, and the details merely flesh it out.
- I changed the sentence in the article for Pdc: "With La Peau de chagrin, on the other hand, the talisman is a symbol of Valentin's soul; at the same time, his demise is representative of a greater social decline." Hopefully this is more on the mark? – Scartol • Tok 13:51, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
-
- Interestingly, the sentence now seems to suggest "symbolism" and "allusion" rather than allegory. Admittedly, whether something is a symbol or an allegory can often be difficult to determine, but if you are making the case for allegory - often an extended series of representations - I think something more than simply "symbol" has to be said. However, this could just be the picky literary scholar in me. I doubt anyone else will care about this distinction! Awadewit (talk) 21:06, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
- Don't be silly; I would not have asked you to review the article if I didn't want you to be picky. =) I feel like this story is a superb example of the statement at the end of the lead in allegory:
-
French writer and critic Félicien Marceau even suggests that the symbolism in the novel allows a purer analysis than the individual case studies of other Balzac novels. - Why?
-
- Added: "...by removing the analysis to an abstract level, it becomes less complicated by variations of individual personality. As an everyman, Valentin displays the essential characteristics of human nature, not a particular person's approach to the dilemma offered by the skin." – Scartol • Tok 15:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
- The confluence of realist detail with allegorical emphasis continues when Valentin enters the antique shop. - This needs to be better explained, particularly the allegory part.
-
- I added "...the store represents the planet itself". Maybe I'm too close to the article, but I tried to explain the connection in the rest of the paragraph – how the objects in the store each present some fact of human experience. – Scartol • Tok 15:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
-
- Allegory can be defined in several different ways, as you know. This would all be clearer if "allegory" were more precisely defined in the article. Awadewit (talk) 03:38, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
-
- You may be giving me too much credit as a literary scholar. =) I read Northrop Frye many years ago, and have obliterated much of it with public school curriculum and grammar specificities. I've always considered allegory in literature to be as described in the article: "sustained longer and more fully in its details than a metaphor, and appeals to imagination, while an analogy appeals to reason or logic". Perhaps you can clarify the different kinds for me? – Scartol • Tok 14:10, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
-
- I'm looking in my dictionary of literary terms and I get this: "a story or visual image with a second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visible meaning. The principal technique of allegory is personification, whereby abstract qualities are given human shape--as in public statues of Liberty or Justice". It goes on to explain that an allegory can be an extended metaphorical system with two or more levels of meaning (e.g. Pilgrim's Progress), or it can be satire, or it can be a method of biblical exegesis (e.g. typology). Modern critical interpretation can be seen as an outgrowth of the typology tradition. I hope this helps! Awadewit (talk) 21:06, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
- Even the story's minor characters represent types of individuals who, presumably, are recognizable to the reader. - How are these types realist? Usually types are not seen as part of realist writing.
Details recounted by Valentin of his living quarters and the frustrations of living in poverty are considered examples of autobiography from Balzac's earliest days as an author - a little wordy or stilted or something
-
- Agreed. Changed to: "Details recounted by Valentin of his impoverished living quarters are autobiographical allusions to Balzac's earliest days as an author:" – Scartol • Tok 15:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
- The novel extrapolates this message from the individual to a general analysis of society: Balzac feared that the world was losing its way due to material excess and misguided priorities. - Is "this message" the one after the colon? If so, that is not entirely clear.
-
- I added the phrase "like Valentin" to try and clarify: "Balzac feared that the world, like Valentin, was losing its way due to material excess and misguided priorities." Hopefully this helps? – Scartol • Tok 15:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
The corruption of excess is related to social disorganization in a description at the start of the final act. - "act"?
The publicity generated by the fragments released before the book's publication ensured that it sold out immediately after going on sale. Balzac used his connections in the world of journalism to have his books reviewed in every major Parisian newspaper and magazine. - I feel like this information is repeated too often in the article - the lead, writing and publication, and the reception.
He was so well connected, in fact, that he was allowed to write his own review in some instances. - This was not uncommon in Britain - was it uncommon in France?
-
- I can't really say, since I don't feel I have the knowledge of how it all worked. It certainly struck me as surprising, but if it was common in Britain, it makes sense that it would also be common in France. I took out the context and just mentioned that he wrote some reviews himself. – Scartol • Tok 15:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
Is there a way to integrate the material in the "Contes philosophiques" section more seamlessly into the article? Right now, it is just kind of sitting there. I wonder if it would fit better in the "Writing and publication" section or perhaps as a fourth paragraph in the first part of "Reception and legacy"?
The novel has been cited as a possible influence on Oscar Wilde for his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.[73] It also served as the basis for the libretto of Giselher Klebe's 1959 opera Die tödlichen Wünsche. - Briefly explaining the plots of these might help readers unfamiliar with the works to see the influence.
Many of the captions repeat information in the main body of the article - it is better when they don't do that.
There is a lot of older criticism in the reference list - not many people writing on this novel nowadays?
-
- Y'know, there's some – but most of it appears to suffer from the "Everything truly worthwhile has already been said" disease. The book of modern criticism I read for Le Père Goriot was all about the homoerotic tension between Vautrin and Rastignac (which I feel is a stretch) and these insanely close readings of minor bits of dialogue and all the postmodern interpretations of how The Word manifests itself as Society and so on. It would appear that the golden age of Balzac criticism in the US peaked in the 1970s, at the University of Chicago (they put out four books which are really good). Since then it appears to be scattered ideas, and not very compelling ones at that. – Scartol • Tok 17:48, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
I hope this review was helpful! Awadewit (talk) 14:32, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Flowers for Algernon
Hi. I've been doing a lot of work on this article over the past couple of months. Found some good online as well as paper sources. I think it might be ready for a GA-nom, although the Themes and Reception sections need significant work before looking at FA. Before I go for GA and finish the expansion, I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts. Anyone want to pitch in and help on the work that needs doing? Thanks. GDallimore (Talk) 10:21, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] The Secret Agent
I am working extensively on this article due to its High importance level, and because I think I have quite a detailed knowledge of the text. I'm looking for opinions on where/how to exapand areas. Obviously, it is lacking everything that would make it an FA, or even a GA, however objective advice would be good, and would facilitate my efforts. Thanks. --Adasta 
16:52, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Comments from Yllosubmarine
I think this could very well be promoted to Good Article status in the near future with a little tweaking, but Featured status may take a substantial amount of work. Here are some suggestions for improvement:
- Several of the references need to be formatted correctly, including 13 and 14.
- Per WP:LEAD, the lead section is meant to be a summary of the entire article. That it was 'one of the three works of literature most cited in the American media' post September 11" is not mentioned in the body of the article, which it should be as it seems to be an important point. There is no mention of its adaptations in the lead, nor the fact that it initially sold poorly.
- I noticed this while reassessing it, and it seems that another user has fixed a majority of the spelling errors, but the prose remains confusing and/or poor in places. For example, "a spy in the London of 1886" is needlessly wordy; it could simply be "a spy in late 19th-century London". This sentence, also from the lead, combines two separate and barely related ideas: "Terrorism is cited as one of the major themes, with the book later inspiring the Unabomber." The book is infamous for inspiring the Unabomber, but this should be mentioned separately from the inherent major themes. In short, it could use a copy-edit throughout. You may wish to engage someone from WP:LOCE for assistance.
- It is typically understood that plot summaries are self-referencing, meaning that the source is the book itself. The "Characters" section, however, could potentially use a few independent sources. The section should also be made a separate heading (==Characters== and not ===Characters===).
- The use of the colon (:) in the "Major themes" section makes the prose disjointed, another reason why a copy-edit would help greatly. For example, "Conrad also drew upon two persons specifically: Mikhail Bakunin and Prince Peter Kropotkin. Conrad used these two men in his 'portrayal of the novel's anarchists'" is easily re-written as "Conrad drew upon Mikhail Bakunin and Prince Peter Kropotkin specifically, using them in his 'portrayal...'" etc.
- What does "In modern times" denote? Contemporary views?
- I suggest splitting the "Literary significance and reception" section into two parts; how the article was received a century ago and how it is received now. In the latter section you can include the infamy surrounding the Unabomber and the influence the book had on him and his actions, and how events related to him changed how we view the book today. This entire section needs to be expanded, as well, with additional references.
- The uncertainty in the first sentence regarding the Unabomber needs to be remedied: "The Secret Agent is said to have influenced The Unabomber." Said to have makes the entire section sound like a rumor, but the following information makes it clear, without any doubt, that the novel greatly influenced Kaczynski. This therefore needs to be made explicit.
- The "Adaptations" section should be converted to prose. The section can begin with a blanket summary statement similar to "The Secret Agent has been adapted into various mediums throughout the years. Beginning in 1923..." etc.
I hope this helped. Let me know if you have any questions. María (habla conmigo) 13:40, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Comments from Junius49 (talk)
I agree with María -- the article looks great. It's definitely on its way to good article status. I tried to clean up a few of the sentences and those compound citations. Here's my major concern:
- I think that the Unabomber should be entirely left out of the introduction -- it seems to be an interesting connection, but I'm not sure it deserves intro status. The reference to post-9/11 media makes it explicit that the book has received recent attention because it centers on an act of terrorism. I think that's more important in the intro. Let me know if you want help revising the article. I'd be happy to help some more. --Junius49 (talk) 00:49, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Grey Griffins (book series)
I am about to nominate this article for GA status and I want to know what i need to do to further improve before nomination. King Rock Go 'Skins! 02:51, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Comments from user:Yllosubmarine
First of all, this is a good start. The major problems I can see that would keep it from being promoted to Good Article status (as per the Good Article criteria) is its lack of both comprehensibility (3a) and verifiability (2). Here are some suggestions to help expand:
- The first sentence (Grey Griffins is a novel series written by American authors Derek Benz and J. S. Lewis) leaves a lot unsaid. What is the genre? Is it young adult as I'm guessing it is? Is it Sci-fi, fantasy? Also, the name of the series does not need a reference.
- The lead is choppy and fragmented. Per WP:LEAD, the lead section should be an overview of the entire article. There is currently no publication history info in the body of the article, so you should either create a section that will describe who did the illustrations and what Orchard Books is, or just remove it from the lead entirely for now. Because it is important info, however, I suggest you do the former rather than the latter.
- The plot intro in the lead gives no context, and I see none in the body, either. What time does the story take place? Present day? Where? Who are the four members? Kids?
- I'm very confused re: the layout of the article itself. What is "Guardian of the Codex", "Society of the Black Wolfs", etc? I suggest you take a look at other novel series articles such as A Series of Unfortunate Events, which is GA, in order to get an idea of layout. A Series uses the following basic outline: "Origins", "Plot summary", "Setting", "Recurring themes and concepts", etc. This would be a good place for you to start.
- There is currently only one main reference: the Grey Griffins website. In order for the article to be verifiable, it must include reliable, secondary sources. For plot point details, you can use the books themselves; just cite them correctly using citation templates. Formatting is a big deal at for Good Articles. Do a Google search for reviews from reputable sources/websites about the series. What do critics think of the novels? How well do they sell? How popular are they?
- Speaking of popularity, there is no assertion of the series' importance. Is this just another Harry Potter ripoff, or is it notable in its own right? What makes this series different, according to reliable sources?
I hope these comments helped. Best of luck, María (habla conmigo) 12:14, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Comments from user:Dozenthey
Similar to Maria's comments, a good start but it needs a lot of work.
-The plot summary dumps way too many names and details in (the THOR agency, the Codex, Morgan Le Fay... where do these things/people come from, why are they in this story?). I'm having trouble getting a clear, simple idea of what the story is about because in every sentence of the summary there seems to be something completely different going on. Flesh it out a bit more, try to take out details that aren't necessary for a brief overview, or explain them/give them context if they are necessary.
-Also, in the summary of book three, the tenses are a bit confusing, and not knowing the plot, I'm not entirely sure what it means. Does he find the spear during this book, did it happen before, is it a flashback? Make it so that I can follow whats going on from beginning to end of the book without too much confusion.
-The last paragraph of the summary I would recommend that you move into the section on characters, give a brief description of the power each one has, and whether he is a good guy or bad guy, something like that. That would be a good way of giving context without overloading the summary.
-I've also changed the internal links that refer to in-world artifacts attributed to mythological figures (ie the spear of Ragnarok), so that only the mythos, rather than the novel-specific aspect, is in hypertext. I think it was confusing to click on an artifact and be redirected to a page about a myth without specific reference to the artifact.
-The review section:
- Like maria asked, what significance do these books have in culture, is anyone reading them, etc.?
-I'm not sure that "The Children's Literature Review" is actually the reviewer, or at least I can't find any information about this group. I think its just a review from the Border's website under the heading "Children's Literature". You need to look into that, and make sure those reviews are from respected sources.
-I'm not sure I agree that the books were reviewed "fairly", as you state in the intro... the reviews don't trash the novels completely, but they are generally negative ("practically unreadable" stands out).
If you have particular questions about how to rewrite the page, let me know, I'll try to help as far as I can not knowing the stories. Dozenthey (talk) 04:26, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Earth Abides
I have made a lot of additions to this article, but am still learning Wikipedia conventions. I could use some pointers if I am making mistakes, and pointers to how I can improve this article. I received a comment that someone not familiar with the book should take a look at it. Thanks,Jacqke (talk) 23:47, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Review from Yllosubmarine
This is a fairly good start for an article, especially from someone who is relatively new around here, so congrats! Because I haven't read the book and cannot comment on the content of the article and how it relates to the work, most of my comments deal with MOS and formatting issues.
- Keep in mind WP:LEAD; that large block quote in the lead section is great, but the first part of the article is supposed to be an overview of the entire article, so large, clunky specifics are usually not a good idea. Also, only include facts in the lead that are mentioned in the body of the article -- James Sallis is not mentioned anywhere else. I would suggest moving the entire second to "Literary significance and reception" and saying something more broad about its reception in the lead.
- This could use a very strong copy-edit. The first sentence, for example, is not grammatically incorrect, but it is a little too detailed: "Earth Abides is a 1949 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American author George R. Stewart. Telling the story of the fall of civilization from deadly disease and its rebirth..." perhaps?
- Remember that all refs must go after punctuation or the end of the line, depending on what it refers to. Ref 3, for example, currently goes before the period, which is incorrect.
- I count 18 separate book covers. This is, to put it lightly, overkill. :) It also goes against fair use guidelines, which states that "As few non-free content uses as possible are included in each article and in Wikipedia as a whole. Multiple items are not used if one will suffice; one is used only if necessary." I understand the desire to illustrate articles that are so prose-heavy, but the only cover image that is truly needed is the original cover, which is currently in the infobox. If there is one other that is notable in itself and/or mentioned in the article, then you can include that one, as well.
- Although it's obvious to most that the source for the plot summary and introduction are the book itself, there are others who insist that every section is referenced. Even if it's just the book itself, one or two refs wouldn't hurt down the line.
- Some interlinking of less common terms would be helpful: "Golden Gate Bridge", "pandemic", city names, etc.
- The "Characters" section seems to fall into a list-like pitfall. To help this, combine smaller sentences into one paragraph on minor characters, or just remove the minor characters all together to concentrate on the main characters.
- Amazon is not where you should be getting your reception information for. Stick to scholarly and notable reviews from the media, not John and Jane Does from the internet. :) State the names of the reviewers and perhaps even quote them for proof; this is where James Sallis could come in handy.
- Do you have sources for the "Symbols" section? Interesting stuff, but you need something scholarly -- this does not include the book itself. Have critics remarked upon these symbols?
-
- Done—eliminated as the symbols were original research. Will look for them if I can ever get to a decent university library.Jacqke (talk) 19:31, 20 March 2008 (UTC)
- I strongly suggest merging the "Symbols" and "Themes" section and converting the material from list to prose formatting. That goes for "Details That Are Dated", as well. By the way, WP:HEAD: lowercase unless proper names!
-
- converting from list to prose, Done.Jacqke (talk) 03:33, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
- lowercase in headlines, Done.Jacqke (talk) 03:33, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
- Merging Symbols and Themes, DoneJacqke (talk) 03:33, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
- Merging Details that are dated, Still needs to be doneJacqke (talk) 19:36, 20 March 2008 (UTC)
- Other Wikipedia articles should never be used as source material. Replace the footnotes and rm them from the "References" section
-
- Done, I removed these. --maclean 04:57, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
- Some footnotes, like "Stewart, George R. (1969). Earth Abides. Boston: Houghton Mifflin...", are already listed in the "References" section. Therefore, you can use truncated names in the footnotes. For example, <ref>Stewart (1969), 125</ref> That cuts down on the clutter, but still provides the reader with all of the information they need.
I hope this has been useful! If you have any questions or comments, just contact me on my talk page. María (habla conmigo) 17:48, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
- Three points
- (1) remove the block quote from the lead. I try to avoid any quote in the lead unless it is immediately identifiable with the subject. Quotes are too specific for the lead which is supposed to an overview of the article. Best to move it to the Reception section and paraphrase the intent it in the lead.
- (2) I would remove the sub-sub-headings "Chapters 1-5", etc. They don't seem to be necessary.
- (3) The Analysis section is not referenced to a secondary source. Unless this kind of analysis is done by a secondary source, I wouldn't go there. --maclean 04:53, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Naked Lunch
I've been working on cleaning this up recently and I want to get it to GA status. Any kind of comment or guidance would be great, I know that the Characters section needs some work so don't comment on that unless you have a specific point mucho thanks HangedJonny (talk) 01:31, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Possibly ill-informed review
The lead section could definitely use some work, particularly the single sentence first paragraph. The phrase "it can be argued" in "Plot introduction" should be changed to either indicate that such an argument has been made and by whom or removed. "and his addiction to drugs (notably heroin and morphine)" in "Plot introduction" is a bit of a dangling clause, and should be altered to better integrate into the main sentence. The "he" in "as much as he wants to share" is vague and should be clarified. "taboo fantasties" should be elaborated one somewhere, as there is no clear indication as to what is being referred to. "have led to much controversy" is another phrase which could use clarification, regarding what controversy there has been. "Plot summary" has the phrase "decapitating people and imitating a pirate", which reads strangely phrased, as one would think the latter significantly less important. It should possibly be broken up or changed to indicate that it is describing things chronologically. "Hassan is not too pleased with this" indicates that Hassan is somewhat pleased with it. Is that true? If not, alter phrasing. Sentence structuring throughout could use some work. The sections on the parties could use sourcing to indicate that the statements there aren't OR. The last three paragraphs of "Literary significance and reception" could use at least one reference apiece. First paragraph of "Allusions in other works" could be broken into at least two, starting with "Several characters..." Trivia section should probably be sourced, author of "Move Under Ground" should be mentioned by name. Citations for the last two paragraphs of "Film adaptation" should be added as well. I know that looks like a lot, and it is, but most of it relates to comparatively minor points and can probably be fixed rather quickly. It probably wouldn't reach GA without several of those changes being made, though. John Carter (talk) 13:47, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Winston Science Fiction
My ultimate goal is to get this article to FA status. I'd appreciate any feedback at all. I know it's a little thin as far as references go, and the list of books in the set take up a lot of the article. The Winston Science Fiction set was an important one in the early development of science fiction literature, especially in the sub-genre of juvenile novels. The art is also particularly notable (i.e. collectible). Thanks! FusionKnight (talk) 20:14, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
- I'll be reviewing this article soon. (I have a few other tasks to finish first, but since I'm requesting a review I'd like to provide one to make things fair.) – Scartol • Tok 21:43, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
- As promised, my review is below. Please let me know if you have any questions.
- Thanks! Looks like it's time to get to work! ;) FusionKnight (talk) 20:49, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
- As promised, my review is below. Please let me know if you have any questions.
[edit] Review by Scartol
This article has some good information, but it really isn't very complete at all right now. The reader should get the following information:
- Background. What was the SF publishing climate like at the time? Where did the idea for the series come from? Who initated it? How did the Winston company become involved?
- History of the series. Which book was published first? Was it written specifically for the series? How were the sales figures? How did the series distinguish itself? Did certain authors make their name by publishing as part of the series? What were the ups and downs of the process? Did it go through different editions? When and why did the company stop publishing it? Et cetera. This should be a majority of the article, split into various sub-sections.
- Reception and legacy. I'd put this toward the end. In addition to the info you've got at the moment, discuss how it changed the world of SF publishing. How did it influence readers and writers? What innovation or improvement resulted from the series? Etc.
- Artwork. Clearly this is a core component of the series, so it should be a sizeable section. How did they find the artists involved? What mood/tone/image did the series try to project? Again, discuss the context of SF artwork at the time, and how this series made its mark.
It looks like a lot of this information will be tricky to find, since I doubt there are many books about the series itself. But you've found one text, and the bibliography of that one will (hopefully) point you toward others.
Good luck with this article, and when you have something more substantial, I'll be happy to copyedit or offer more comments. – Scartol • Tok 18:37, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Montmorency Series
The article has a fare amount of information in it however I dont know what details to add to make it a start class article. I would apreitiate some one telling what information as a reader you would like added to make it more useful.Coho (talk) 22:15, 22 December 2007 (UTC) To do:
- International editions
- Reviews
- Publishing detals
- Hi, Coho, according to the quality scale for novel assessment, I would say that this article could very well be considered a Start class article now. I would concentrate more on the technical aspects of the book, and not just the in-universe details such as character, setting and plot. How successful was the series? What are the publishing details? How did critics react? Are there no sources you could use to base your research? You could also provide images of the book covers for illustration, as was as an infobox. You may want to look over the style guidelines for more help. If you have any questions, just let me know. :) Good luck! María (habla conmigo) 22:46, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] The Great Indian Novel
This is an important novel in historical, satirical, literary, and political terms. The article lay dormant for a long time and I've tried to give it some meat. However, it is a very complex and at times subtle satire. Editors should in particular pay attention to allusions and connections that have been missed. The tables of character, place, event connections should also be worked on. Acsenray (talk) 19:43, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
- Nice start however I would immediately identify a few things to change.
- The "Plot summary" should be much shorter it is too long for the size of the article.
- It should not have the sub-headings which break up the prose unduly.
- The character section although "clearly" in a table should at most be a "bulleted list" - but certainly with "far" more emphasis on the prose description of the characters.
- Also there are virtually no means of verifying the information in the article. So to this end you should add proper referencing, particularly adding a Footnotes section with proper in-line citations to each major statement element of the article.
- Trust that gives you some ideas. Keep at it. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 10:19, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I would like this novel to go through a peer review because I believe that the novel is important in American literature, especially African American literature. It has been edited as far as it can be, so it could benefit from additional eyes for further improvement. --Figureskatingfan 20:48, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
- Have you taken a look at the style guidelines for novels? If not, it may help you delineate further sections (ie. publication history, themes and style). Since the lead paragraph states that the novel is autobiographical in nature, it may be interesting to explore what facets of the book are in fact fiction. For further research, check out Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Resources to plump up the critical importance of this novel as well as the impact it has had on its genre and the author herself. I hope this has helped; if you need anything else, you can reach me here or by my talk page. María (habla conmigo) 21:09, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
- I didn't see this response until about two weeks ago; I forgot that I made the request and had moved onto other edits, but I think that I've made the changes as recommended here. I expanded the "Literary significance" section of the article, based upon some sources I was able to find. Now that this is completed, could someone please peer review it? It would be wonderful if we could get this article to FA before Ms. Angelou's 80th birthday in early April. I'm not Oprah, so I can't be as extravagant as I suspect she'll be, but it would such a cool present from the WP community. (I'd like to have her bio article up to that level, but it just ain't gonna happen.) If there's no response by the end of the week, I'm going to go ahead and submit it for FA, anyway. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 06:30, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Seventeen (novel)
This article is absolutely comprehensive. I don't know what could be missing, other than an image from the first edition (which I was not able to obtain at a major urban public library as they did not have a first edition). I know the book backwards and forwards, gave an accurate summary of the plot and style, and did extensive research on reviews and adaptations. Shouldn't this be reviewed higher (I won't argue that the importance for today is Low).Sofia Roberts 22:38, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
- I have changed a few things on the article, infobox, references etc. Also I have assessed it as Start and Mid. The article could still have more criticial comment if findable and more about notability. The 20th bestsellers reference could be used for some of this. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 16:05, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
