Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/CUNY, Brooklyn College/THEA 7213X Theater History from 1642 (Spring 2014)

WP:LEAD

Last semester, the students had questions about what and how much information should go in the Lead (introductory) section. Information about this topic is found in this guideline: WP:LEAD. For an example of a good Lead section, see Hamlet. The Lead section must, in addition to introducing the article, give an overview/summary of all the most important points that are covered in more detail in the article below. See also WP:LEADFOLLOWSBODY. You should write the Lead section last, after you are finished with the body of the article, because the Lead will summarize the information that you have researched and written in the body. The Lead does not, generally, repeat the references that are in the body below. WP:LEAD says, in part: "The lead serves as an introduction to the article and a summary of its most important aspects. ... The lead should be able to stand alone as a concise overview. It should define the topic, establish context, explain why the topic is notable, and summarize the most important points—including any prominent controversies. The notability of the article's subject is usually established in the first few sentences. The emphasis given to material in the lead should roughly reflect its importance to the topic [as reflected in the sources cited below, and] significant information should not appear in the lead if it is not covered in the remainder of the article. The ... lead should not "tease" the reader by hinting at content that follows. Instead, the lead should be written in a clear, accessible style with a neutral point of view; it should ideally contain no more than four paragraphs...." See, in particular, WP:LEAD#Introductory text. -- Ssilvers (talk) 16:36, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Citing books and articles

When you cite a book, it is essential to include in the citation the exact page number(s) where the information appears in the book. If information is from a long article it is also helpful to say which page of the article is the source of the information. When you cite a newspaper article, include the page number, if available. All citations should give as much of the following information as is available: Author's name (last name first), title of article (and title of book in which the article appears, if applicable), publisher name, date of publication, access date, page number and/or url. Add the ISBN number if it is a book. -- Ssilvers (talk) 16:42, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Examples

For examples of the best Wikipedia articles, see WP:Featured articles#Literature and theatre. -- Ssilvers (talk) 16:46, 12 February 2014 (UTC)