Project 3: Writing a Wikipedia Article

Matthew Vetter- ENG 382 Rhetorical Approaches to Writing

Introduction
Despite its ever-growing popularity and frequent use by students and professionals alike, the online
encyclopedia Wikipedia has been victim to a significant amount of scorn in academic circles. Most
students see the encyclopedia as a forbidden research database, having been steered away from using it
by countless teachers and instructor in secondary and college English classes. For certain purposes and
topics, however, Wikipedia might be the perfect source. For obscure subjects, it might be one of the few
places where information is available. Erroneous entries can tell us about public misconceptions and
ignorance. That Wikipedia has been vilified in academia is ultimately significant of a tremendous loss, as
the database affords an exciting opportunity to produce public writing for a specific audience and venue.
Ultimately this project should demonstrate student growth in the following general areas: audience
awareness; writing styles and tones; source retrieval, evaluation and incorporation; familiarity with wikis
as an example of online discourses and genres.

Assignment Goal
With Project 1, we practiced editing existing articles. These editing skills are essential to a successful
project 3, so please review the tutorial on editing before beginning this project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial. For this project, your goal is to create a Wikipedia
entry on a topic not yet written about. We’ll be generating appropriate topics in class but here are some
ideas to get you thinking about the possibilities:

 An Ohio University student organization you belong to or are interested in joining. E.g. People
Acting for Gender Equality
 A Local Musical Group / Artist. E.g. Poet Hollis Summers
 A Local Event or Festival. E.g. Ohio Paw Paw Festival
 A Local Place of Interest or History

Alternative: A substantial edit to an existing Wikipedia article, one that takes the formal requirements
and guidelines of this assignment into consideration, may also be an option. Bring possible ideas to class
for discussion.

Refer to the “Things to Avoid” section of the Wikipedia: Your First Article for further guidance. We’ll also
be discussing the concept of notability as it is presented in “Wikipedia:Notability” as a way of identifying
what topics are deserving of an entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:N
 Assignment Elements and Expectations

A. Compilation and Evaluation of Sources

Generating a suitable entry topic which hasn’t been already written about is just the beginning, of
course. You’ll also be expected to compile a list of (8-12) sources from which to draw information.
Because your entry will ultimately be subject to editorial review and (worst case scenario) deletion, it is
extremely important to evaluate sources carefully before deciding to include them in your entry.

B. Article Entry

The written elements of this project will vary in terms of length, depending on subject, but most entries
should range between 800-1200 words. It’s important to remember that the encyclopedic entry, as a
genre, necessitates a specific format and style. Encyclopedia entries are meant to be as objective as
possible and should not include analytical or opinion-based writing. We’ll be examining a number of
successful and unsuccessful entries in order to learn to recognize and imitate this style.

C. Photographic Element

In addition to the written requirement, you are also asked to add a photographic element to the entry
and incorporate at least two photographs into the entry. It’s important that these photographs pertain
to your topic. They have the power to increase the notability of local-interest entries, as suggested in
“Wikipedia: Your First Article”: “There is no consensus about such articles [local interest], but some will
challenge them if they include nothing that shows how the place is special and different from tens of
thousands of similar places. Photographs add interest. Try to give local-interest articles local colour.”

D. Reflection Essay

The final element to this assignment consists of a reflection essay in which you examine one or more
rhetorical concepts of notability, authority, audience, and purpose. How much has your attention to one
or more of these concepts influenced your composition process and product? Furthermore, how are
open content platforms such as Wikipedia changing the way information is shared and disseminated?
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_content. A final element of your essay should address the
function and efficacy of your photographs. How do these images increase the article’s notability? What
do they add to the composition that cannot be accomplished in alphabetic text?
 Publishing Expectations

While this project provides the opportunity to successfully “publish” your entry, it does not require that
outcome. The chance that your encyclopedic entry will not remain on Wikipedia, its deletion, is a very
real possibility. This does not mean that you will lose your work, as you will be saving your entry both on
your Wikipedia user space and as MS Word documents throughout the project. However, this deletion
does add an emotional risk to the project. I do not tell you this to add to your apprehension or
disappointment, but rather, to make you understand that any real opportunity to share your work with
a wide audience involves some emotional dangers. This project is no exception. It should be both
frightening and exciting to imagine the end result.

Composing Processes
1. Review the Wikipedia Editing Tutorial at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial. The
“Becoming a Wikipedia Editor: An Overview” video tutorial found on this page is also very
helpful. Remember you can always experiment / play in the Sandbox as we did leading up to the
first project: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sandbox.

2. Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Starting_an_article to learn more about the process

of starting a new entry.

3. Begin generating a possible article topics by searching the encyclopedia. Be sure to use different
search terms, both broad and specific, to ensure that a topic hasn’t already been written about.
We’ll read the entry on notability (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:N) and discuss the
concept in class to get a better idea of what topics will be most appropriate. The Article Wizard
can also help you figure out if your topic is sufficiently notable:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_wizard.

4. Begin compiling sources. Be sure to review the section on “Gathering References” at “Wikipedia:
Your First Article,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Your_first_article.

5. We’ll read and discuss a number of example directly from Wikipedia, then you’ll begin drafting
your own article. Review the guidelines under “Content” at the Article Wizard. Your article
should adhere to the following:
 Your article submission must not violate copyright.
Your article should also establish notability.
Your article must be neutral in its tone.
Your article should not engage in puffery.

Using a digital camera (which can be checked out at 215 McCracken Hall), you’ll also want to
take some photographs at this point to add to your entry. Have numerous options (pictures) for
your peer reviewer to examine. Together, you can decide which are most appropriate at the
peer review.

6. We’ll hold an in-class peer review to workshop these drafts in groups of three. Reviewers will
evaluate how well you meet the above criteria, your inclusion of at least two photographic
images, the selection of sources, and how well those sources are incorporated and documented
with the ultimate goal of providing constructive feedback for the writer.

A Note on Delivery: While you might be drafting on your “user space” in Wikipedia, for the peer
review-paste your article into a Word document and print out for your reviewer. Images can be
uploaded on to a laptop which can be brought to class, brought on a flash drive and put on the
classroom projector, or displayed on the digital camera itself.

7. After additional revision, you’ll submit your article for review at Article for Creation (AfC) using
the Article Wizard.

8. With feedback and approval of your AfC reviewer, Go Live! Using the Article Wizard. You should
also save the final version of your entry in your user space, as it may be edited by other
Wikipedia members very quickly.

Schedule
Week 8-Discussion of Assignment; students locate example articles.

Week 9-Draft and Photographs Due for Peer Review

Week 10-Submit article to (AfC) for Wikipedia Review

Final-Submit final version to Wikipedia / Reflection Essay Due

Example Articles
As an introduction to the assignment, you’re each asked to e-mail me one existing Wikipedia article. Pay
close attention to the format, style and content of these articles as we’ll be discussing further the
characteristics of the genre. We’ll review these Week 8.

A Note on Copyright and Citation

Incorrect citations are among the most common reasons for an article deletion on Wikipedia. The
success of your project depends on your careful adherence to quotation and documentation standards.
The photographs you end up using should be copyrighted in the photographer’s name (you).

Evaluation
This assignment is worth 35% of your total course grade and is broken down in the following elements:
Final Article: 20%; Reflection Essay: 10%; Process (Example Article, Rough Draft and Photographs): 5%

The final article will be assessed for content, neutral style, documentation, source selection. The
photographs will be assessed in terms of notability. That is, how does the photograph’s content increase
the article’s notability. This is not a class in photography and your efforts will not be graded on an
aesthetic scale. Your reflection essay will be assessed in terms of rhetorical organization, level of
engagement with the process / understanding of the key concepts, and clarity of analysis. The peer
review will be modeled after the guidelines laid down by Wikipedia regarding copyright, notability,
neutrality, puffery.