User:Belovedfreak/sandbox4
I've listed this article for peer review because I would really like to nominate it as a featured list at some point and would like any comments or constructive criticism regarding what else needs to be done to get it to this standard. I think it's pretty comprehensive although I know that some work needs to be done with the early history. Any comments or suggestions for the lead section would also be appreciated.
Thanks, BelovedFreak 14:53, 21 May 2010 (UTC)
Finetooth comments: This is an interesting list with interesting illustrations. The prose needs polishing to reach professional quality; in addition, the list might not be comprehensive. What is a "major" event? Did only five major events occur before 1822? Here are further comments and suggestions.
- To orient readers, I'd strongly suggest including another map, maybe File:Un-tanzania.png, to show where Tanzania is in Africa and where Zanzibar is in relation to the mainland. It might look good right under the infobox, not sure.
- Inevitably you will be asked whether anything important is missing from the list. I don't know the answer to that, but it's something to think about. An awful lot of things can happen in 20,000 years, and any list is bound to be super-selective. I noticed that no women but Mary Leakey made the list; health (epidemics, for example) and education (first university, for example) did not make the list. It's hard to say what a comprehensive list of Tanzanian history would consist of. For example, should the completion of the Usambara Railway appear in the list?
Lead
"Human inhabitance of the region dates back at least 100,000 years." - Maybe "Human habitation in the region... ". I don't think "inhabitance" is a real word."European contact with East Africa began in the 15th century with Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landing in 1498." - "With" plus "-ing" constructions are generally weak. Suggestion: "European contact with East Africa began when Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed in 1498." It might be helpful to add here just where in East Africa he landed in relation to Tanzania."The 19th century brought increased colonial involvement in the region with German East Africa forming on the mainland in 1885 and Zanzibar coming under British control in 1890." - Another "with plus -ing". Also, it might be helpful to add that Zanzibar is off the coast. Suggestion: "Colonial involvement in the region increased in the 19th century; German East Africa was formed on the mainland in 1885, and Zanzibar, an island archipelago east of the mainland, came under British control in 1890.""Six years later, the Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought on the island; it is the shortest war in history." - Even though this is sourced later in the main text, it's such an extraordinary claim that you might want to add a citation here as well."Resistance against colonial rule in German East Africa was apparent with the opposition of Chief Mkwawa of the Hehe and the Maji Maji Rebellion." - This seems unnecessarily roundabout. Suggestion: "Chief Mkwawa of the Hehe and insurgents tied to the Maji Maji Rebellion resisted colonial rule in German East Africa""The 20th century saw the end of German involvement in the area following World War I as the United Kingdom took over Tanganyika as a United Nations mandate." - Roundabout and not quite correct. Suggestion: "German involvement ended after World War I when the United Kingdom took over Tanganyika as a League of Nations mandate." The United Nations did not exist at the time."1995 saw the country's first multi-party election, won by third president Benjamin Mkapa." - The Manual of Style advises against starting sentences with digits. Suggestion: Benjamin Mkapa, the country's third president, won Tanzania's first multi-party election in 1995."Mkapa's presidency saw diplomatic ties forged in the region with the signing of the East African Community Treaty, criticisms for overspending by the government and the US embassy bombing in Dar es Salaam." - If I understand this correctly, here is a suggested alternative: "During Mkapa's presidency, Tanzania forged diplomatic ties in the region by signing the East African Community Treaty. However, the Mkapa government was criticized for overspending and for not preventing a bombing of the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam."The line of numbers in the box at the bottom of the lead is somewhat mysterious without the word "century" in at least one place.
18th century
- The 100,000 slaves claim needs a source. It might help to add where the slaves were from and where they were sent.
Images
Interesting and informative images. Licenses look OK to me.All of your captions are sentence fragments, so the terminal periods should be deleted.
- The alt-text tool in the toolbox at the top of this review page shows that the images lack alt text, meant for readers who can't see the images. I'm not sure whether you'll need alt text for FLC, but it would be a good idea to add it anyway. WP:ALT has details.
I hope these suggestions prove helpful. If so, please consider reviewing another article, especially one from the PR backlog at WP:PR. That is where I found this one. Finetooth (talk) 02:36, 27 May 2010 (UTC)