User:OctopusMoustache

Biography

As a child, I spent most of my days reading about fairies, writing stories on colored cardstock, getting my capris covered in chalk dust in the summer, and running barefoot through streams collecting pretty stones. My mom taught me the alphabet when I was four, and even though I tended to write my name with a backward e, I always loved making stories. My very first dream was that I wanted to be an author, even though I didn’t have the word for it at the time. As such, I’ve done creative writing throughout my entire life. I’ve always loved any type of art.

Wikipedia has stolen many listless evenings from me. Inevitably, reading just one article will lead to another and another. Suddenly, three hours have gone by and I hadn’t even noticed the sunset. My most frequent victims are articles pertaining to history, which vary greatly from the clothing of 1300s Europe to Laura Ingalls Wilder to Pompeii. Reading the life stories of historical figures is one of the most fascinating activities the site has to offer, including well-known authors of famous classics.

Article Evaluation: Proxy Marriage

As someone who has read many books on historical figures, including royal ones, I’ve come across the term “proxy marriage” or “marriage by proxy” on numerous occasions. The context provided enough information that I never felt the need to look further into the history of this subject. This idea of marrying by proxy is a foreign one to modern audiences, however, and as such, I ventured to learn more about it. Thus, I visited the proxy marriage page on Wikipedia and found three aspects of it worth commenting on: the grammatical errors, questionable citations, and incomplete sections.

Grammatical Errors

The first thing I noticed when I found this page was that many sentences were worded awkwardly and lacked polish. Not only was the vocabulary choice often strange or unfitting, but even basic grammar rules were ignored. There were missing commas, incorrectly conjugated verbs, and misused semicolons, all to such an extent that some sections were exceedingly difficult to understand. In addition, despite the short length, there were multiple occasions of run-ons sentences, one being so incoherent I couldn't discern the meaning of the statement at all. Ultimately, despite generally presenting itself in a formal, unbiased manner, the author's loose grasp on the basic principles of English culminated in an article that feels rushed and sloppy.

Citations

Another disappointing aspect of this page was the citations, as not only did it lack severely in this department, but the ones it did list were less than satisfactory. Not only were most of the sources originally listed upwards of a decade ago, they also consisted mostly of unimpressive websites. Some had no references themselves, despite being secondary resources; others were simply story articles from news sites. One was from an ad-laden site, most of which featured scantily-clad women, that hasn't been touched since 2006. Yet another led to a book that briefly mentioned the word "proxy" a mere three or four times, and was otherwise irrelevant. Further, there were many facts listed on the page that went without reference entirely. Many examples of proxy marriage occurring were listed, but references were only given for the most recent ones.

Incomplete Sections

Lastly, this article is extremely brief. The history of proxy by marriage should be decently extensive, including such information as the role it has played in various different countries and cultures, it's origin, how the practice has evolved over time, and the ends to which it was most often employed. Instead, the history section simply lists a few examples then skips ahead to this last century without further context. Additionally, the section discussing the legality of marriage by proxy features only three places: The United States, Germany, and the Catholic Church. There is no elaboration on whether this practice is legal in any other locations. I was curious as to whether proxy marriage has ever occurred in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, or elsewhere, but no such information was provided.

Summary

Unfortunately, my conclusion about this page is that it is incomplete at best and completely useless at worst. From the mediocre writing, substandard citations, and unfinished subjects, it accomplished nothing of Wikipedia's drive for reliable information. With only six sections to be found under the Talk tab and the last comment dating to January of 2016, it is, by all accounts, an abandoned page of sorts, sorely lacking in care and craft.

As per instructions, I made an edit to the proxy marriage page. I made the "History" section easier to read by adding a bullet-point list, in addition to linking a couple of names to other Wikipedia sites. I also created a new heading called "Today" under "History" and moved a paragraph from the latter to the former because it seemed more suitable.