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COGDEN review

Reviewer: COGDEN 21:19, 2 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Criteria:

1. "Well-written"
   • The prose is clear, readable, and grammatical.
   • The lede is standard and well written, and the article layoyut is standard.
2. "Factually accurate and verifiable"
   • Provides references to all sources.
   • Provides in-line citations in all appropriate locations.
   • Does not appear to contain original research.
3. "Broad in its coverage"
   • Addresses all the main aspects of the topic that I can think of.
   • Stays focused on the subject matter without unnecessary detail.
4. "Neutral"
   • Is written in a dispassionate tone, with know perceived bias.
5. "Stable"
   • Is not the subject of an edit war or ongoing content dispute.
6. "Illustrated, if possible, by images"
   • Images are tagged with their copyright status, and are free content. The Guy Fawkes image is not a copyright issue, because it is a mechanical reproduction of an old image.
   • Images are relevant and appropriately captioned.

General note: This article is very well done, and I think it easily deserves "good" status. I have a couple of optional suggestions, however, on the way toward "featured" status. Take them or leave them, for what they are worth:

• It might be good to have some sort of comparison between this English practice and other similar practices such as execution by quartering in France during the same time period, which involved poking with a red-hot poker, pouring molten lead into the wounds, and then pulling the person apart with four horses, often while they were still conscious, and then finally burning them at the stake. It was a quite different process, but I think it could be mentioned as a comparison in the last section.
• I think it would be good to expand a little bit on the penal theory behind such draconian punishments (e.g., the tortured body served to show the truth of the crime, as well as the unlimited nature of the Sovereign's power, etc.) I know some of that is already in the article, but there is a lot to be said, and that has been said, about the subject. You might be able to cite Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish for that, or some similar philosophical or jurisprudential works.

COGDEN 21:19, 2 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review and the pointers. I did look at the French system but haven't found any source that finds a relationship between England and France in this respect, and therefore thought that do include it would be WP:SYNTHESIS. I'm waiting for another source to arrive at my local library, I'll see what that contains. Parrot of Doom 21:57, 2 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]