"How To Make Lipstick Out of Crayons" Review

For this assignment I chose to inspect a "How to Make Lipstick Out of Crayons" article.  Some characteristics that make it a good how to article are the constant safety reminders that the writer provides its readers with.  That is something that I see as essential when explaining situations to others.  It is important to be aware of the risks, as well as the benefits.  Another aspect of the article that makes it well written is the ability to be descriptive and brief.  The author is able to provide as much information as possible, in only a few short steps.  This is especially important to those who may not have the time to read through pages and pages of information, for a simple task.  When explaining "How To" you do not want to confuse your readers with pointless phrases that may not be necessary for your overall result.  I believe this article was very efficient in doing so.  Finally, they gave extra resources for information, like a how to video, and tips at the end.

I felt this article was well written because as a reader, I found it easy to understand, to a point that I could probably do it on my own.  It was so well written that I find you could read it over once, and then never again.  You would not need to have the "How To" opened in order to preform the task, you could retain enough information afterwards that you would be able to do it efficiently.  Although this article was very informative, and well written, there are always things that could be improved.  Some of these things that I believe could be looked at in this situation include: possibly providing a list of manufacturers that produce some of the ingredients.  For instance, non-toxic crayons, where you can purchase extracts and essences, etc.  As a teenager, I am not well informed of the majority of this information, so it would be helpful to me in this case.  Also, it could be looked to, for the interest aspect, to create a more "catching" statement, or even why would we want to do this?  What benefits does it provide?  Overall, the issues with the article are all very simple fixes.

Rubric:

There are no more than three grammatical or spelling errors in the article: 5
The article has a catchy headline that makes you want to read it: 3
The article has a purpose, explaining benefits to the reader: 4
The steps in the article are clear and easy to understand: 5

In the end I give the article found at: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Lipstick-Out-of-Crayons , a solid 17/20.  It was grammatically correct in most cases, and clear to understand, but it lacked in interest, and the beneficial elements of this process were unclear.

Another statement I think should be added to the rubric is: "Did the author provide additional resources for the information provided? (ex. videos, tips, other articles, etc.) "