User:Amentis16/sandbox

This is my sandbox

Article Evaluation

-Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

Everything that is in the article Feed is all relevant to the topic. The only thing that was distracting to me was the grammar at times.

-Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

I do not believe, after having read through the article, that anything seems to be biased or based towards a particular position. Multiple themes and aspects from the novel are brought up throughout the article, making it an overall neutral article. However, there are instances that seem slightly biased and opinionated, but is hard to catch.

-Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

The viewpoints on the themes of "language" and "authority" seem to be underrepresented in comparison to that of the theme "consumerism". A lot more information is included for the "consumerism" theme.

-Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

Yes, the links work to take you to the reference page where you can then copy and paste the citation and find the sources. The sources support the claims that are found in the article as well.

- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?

There is a citation at the end of almost every sentence, so yes, each fact is referenced and all the references are reliable and appropriate. A lot of the information is coming from scholarly and peer-reviewed articles coming from site like the Literature Resource Center and ebscohost, a known library database. The sources are pretty neutral sources and all discuss the topic for the article.

-Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Most of the sources are from the past 10 years or so, which is still pretty up-to-date. I would like to think there are some themes missing, but that is just in my opinion and nothing that I have found to be backed up by a reliable source.

- Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

The entirety of the conversations are about how to improve the site and make it more clear and specific. Some users also wanted to shorten the plot section so it isn't as lengthy, which makes complete sense to me!

-How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

It is rates as a C-Class and Mid-Important. It is also a part of WikiProjects Novels.

-How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

It seems to me that the majority of the article, outside of the plot and character list, focuses on the theme of consumerism. We also talked about this in class, but we also broadened our discussions to bring in different aspects. I feel as though we talked about the lesions more whereas in the article they are only briefly mentioned a few times.

Article on "Absalom! Absalom!"

For this article, I would want to contribute by adding a new section for themes. Though I have never read this novel, I know that themes would arise in it if I did. Currently, there is no section at all for themes. Also, I would add in a section to describe the characters outside of the plot summary. The characters are only mentioned in the plot summary and other sections that are not as of now dedicated to them only.

To research on those topics, I would go to a reputable database and see if I can find scholarly articles that discuss the themes that seem to be apparent in the novel. I would do the same thing when it comes to finding out about the aspects that make up each character. There are probably articles out there that compare characters, etc.

When it comes to the style and organization, I would suggest that they change the "Notes" header to say "References". Also, all of the sections, minus "influence and significance", are pretty long. I believe it would be more appealing to readers if most of the sections were about the same when it comes to length. The references they include do not look to be reliable whatsoever and many come from Google books. Overall, more content, in general, needs to be added to this article to improve on it. People seemed to be discussing this in the talk page, but nothing has been done.

The page for "Light in August" had a lot more content and more references as well. It was definitely not perfect, but a much better step up in comparison to "Absalom! Absalom!"

Possible Topics

1) Jurassic Park (Novel)

2) Mary Poppins (Books)

3) The Prince and the Pauper (Novel) *Choice #2

• This is a stand alone book we could read by a very famous author. I feel like Twain novels should be written about well on wikipedia.
• The themes section is small and there is not a section for the reception of the article by the public. This would give us something good to write about, or at least a starting point.

4) Charlotte's Web (Novel) **Top Choice #1**

• Create a "Themes" section; currently the article does not have a section at all
• Already lightly perused Summons through the library website and found 2-3 sources already that seem to pertain to themes from the novel

5) American Girl Books

*Other topics were not chosen as top two because either one of us, or both, have not read them before. We preferred to have had some recollection of what the story was about.*

Charlotte's Web (Novel) Chosen Topic for Editing

• We will add a Themes section for the page since one does not currently exist.
• From skimming the titles and short information sections on the sources, we will include at least 3 subsections underneath Themes
• For right now, we will put all of our focus on creating a Themes section rather than expanding to another section on the article's page.

Sources:

1)

Kinghorn, Norton D. “The Real Miracle of Charlotte’s Web.” Children's Literature Association

Quarterly, vol. 11, no. 1, 1986, pp. 4–9., doi:10.1353/chq.0.0418.

In this article, Kinghorn briefly touches on the themes that critics have believed Charlotte’s Web to be about and then goes on to mention that, according to E.B. White, the theme of the book is that a pig is saved. Kinghorn focuses on the character of Charlotte, a spider, and how important her web is to the ideas brought forth in the book. Kinghorn discusses all of the symbols that the web helps represent, with help from the hymns that are sung by the crickets in the book.

• Theme of Change/Transition
• Theme of Death–Loss of Life/Loss of Innocence
• Theme of Saving a Pig

2)

Mills, Sophie. “Pig in the Middle.” Children's Literature in Education, vol. 31, no. 2, June 2000,

           pp. 107–124., doi:10.1023/A:1005178904342.

In this article, Mills argues that pigs have a sort of humanity to them that allows them to be used to portray themes such as transitioning from childhood to adulthood. In her analysis of Charlotte’s Web, Mills compares the pig, Wilbur, to the human little girl, Fern. Mills points out, though, that there is a difference between Fern and Wilbur outside of Wilbur being a pig and Fern a human. According to Mills, Wilbur transcends the change that is demanded of him whereas Fern accepts her change to transition into adulthood.

• Theme of Change
• Theme of Child-Pig Identification
• Theme of Death–Wilbur escaping it

3)

Misheff, Sue. "Beneath the Web and Over the Stream: The Search for Safe Places in Charlotte's

           Web and Bridge to Terabithia." Children's Literature in Education, vol. 29, no. 3, Sept.

           1998, pp. 131-141. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.valpo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost

           .com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=11305724&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

*The citation above did not include a doi so I had to include the url at the end to comply with MLA rules, however, the rest of the information on the article is provided in the citation*

In this article, Misheff compares the roles of the “female saviors,” Charlotte and Leslie, on the lives of their “redeemed males,” Wilbur and Jesse. The female character uses imagination to create a safe place through the magical powers of nature. They shape the male character by teaching them valuable life lessons. Each of these female character die, leaving the male character to carry on their legacy and memory with their changed lives.

• Change/redemption of male characters
• Carrying of memory after death

4)

Ratelle, Amy. “Ethics and Edibility in Charlotte's Web.” The Lion and the Unicorn, vol. 38, no.

           3, Sept. 2014, pp. 327–341., doi:10.1353/uni.2014.0026.

In this article Ratelle discusses the divide between meat animals and other animals/humans as displayed in Charlotte’s Web. Ratelle analyzes the life of E. B. White and his relationship with animals, as he grew up on a farm. The character of Wilbur is seen as transitioning from the status of a pet to the status of a meat animal when he moves from Fern’s loving how to her Uncles farm. Fences are used in the illustrations and in the story to mark the divide between Wilbur, as a meat animal, and everyone else.

• Divide between 2 groups of people
• Justification of death
• Change in status

5)

Thomas, Trudelle H. “The Arc of the Rope Swing: Humour, Poetry, and Spirituality in

          Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White.” International Journal of Children's Spirituality, vol.

           21, no. 3-4, 2016, pp. 201–215., doi:10.1080/1364436x.2016.1228618.

In this article, Thomas focuses on how E.B. White uses both poetic language and humor in Charlotte’s Web to help bring about the theme of ultimate goodness. Thomas points out that the novel not only speaks to children, but can also speak to adults and help them to better understand their children. To help his argument, Thomas includes a lot of images from the novel to act as support for his stance.

• Theme of Ultimate Goodness

• Theme of Divine Discontent (Wabi-sabi)?
• Theme of Child-Pig Identification
• Theme of Death
• Theme of Humor/Poetic Language?

6)

Anne Devereaux, Jordan. "Appreciating Charlotte's Web." Teaching and Learning Literature with Children and Young Adults, vol. 7, no. 2, 1997, pp.32. Night storms (talk) 23:47, 19 April 2018 (UTC)

In this article Jordan first talks about the life of E.B. White and the writing of Charlotte’s Web, and then he talks about themes in the book. This article clearly states many times that the themes of death, love, and friendship are represented in the novel. The article explains that the characters of Fern and Wilbur both develop from having childlike hatred against death, to having a mature acceptance for death. This message is brought to them through love and friendship.

• Death
• Love
• friendship

7)

Scully, Matthew. "Tangled Web; A Children's Classic, and the Moral Dimensions of Animal Farming. (The Story of Charlotte's Web: E.B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic)."

The Weekly Standard. vol. 16, no. 39, June 2011, New York, N.Y. Night storms (talk) 01:37, 20 April 2018 (UTC)

In this article, Scully discusses the concepts of life and death to a human and animal mind. He also discusses the differences between the raising and killing of animals on a farm, versus in big organizations. Children and animals have a simple view of life and death, which is that creatures like to live and do not like to die. Adults create a more abstract view in order to justify the killing of farm animals, such as pigs, or food.

• Life and death
• Innocence of children and animals vs adults

(This article does not seem to talk directly about themes, but they may be mentioned or implied.)

****The Themes section on the actual article should be inserted after the Characters section. I referenced the manual for novels on Wikipedia.****

*Has been moved over to the main space*

Themes

Death

Death is a major theme seen throughout Charlotte's Web and is brought forth by that of the spider, Charlotte's, web. According to Norton D. Kinghorn, Charlotte's web acts as a barrier that separates two worlds. These worlds are that of life and death. Scholar Amy Ratelle says that through Charlotte's continual killing and eating of flies throughout the novel, White makes the concept of death normal for Wilbur and for the readers. Wilbur constantly has death on his mind at night when he is worrying over whether or not he will be made into meat for humans to consume, but as scholar Sophie Mills notes, Wilbur is able to avoid death. Even though Wilbur is able to escape his death, Charlotte, the spider who takes care of Wilbur, is not able to escape her own death. Charlotte passes away, but according to Trudelle H. Thomas, "Yet even in the face of death, life continues and ultimate goodness wins out". Jordan Anne Deveraux explains that E.B. White discusses a few realities of death. From the novel, readers learn that death can be delayed, but it cannot be avoided forever.

Change

For Norton D. Kinghorn, Charlotte's web also acts as a signifier of change. The change Kinghorn refers to is that of both the human world and the farm/barn world. For both of these worlds change is something that cannot be avoided. Along with the changing of the seasons throughout the novel, the characters also go through their own changes. Jordan Anne Deveraux also explains that Wilbur and Fern each go through their changes to transition from childhood closer to adulthood throughout the novel. This is evidenced by Wilbur accepting death and Fern giving up her dolls. Wilbur grows throughout the novel, allowing him to become the caretaker of Charlotte's children just as she was a caretaker for him, as is explained by scholar Sue Misheff. But rather than accept the changes that are forced upon them, according to Sophie Mills, the characters aim to go beyond the limits of change. In a different way, Wilbur goes through a change when he switches locations. Amy Ratelle explains that when he moves from Fern's house to Homer Zuckerman's farm, Wilbur goes from being a loved pet to a farm animal.

Innocence

Fern, the little girl in the novel, goes from being a child to being more of an adult. As she goes through this change, Kinghorn notes that it can also be considered a fall from innocence. Wilbur also starts out young and innocent at the beginning of the novel. A comparison is drawn between the innocence and youth of Fern and Wilbur. Sophie Mills states that the two characters can identify with one another. Both Wilbur and Fern are, at first, horrified by the realization that life must end; however, by the end of the novel, both characters learn to accept that everything must die. According to Matthew Scully, the novel presents the difference in the world view of adults versus the world view of children. Children, such as Fern, believe killing another for food is wrong, while adults have learned to justify this action.

What Still Needs Improvement in "Charlotte's Web" Article

• The info on the themes section needs to be added to the lead since it is now a part of the article and did not exist before so now it needs to be included in the lead.
• See talk page of article for more