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Remember English class when your teacher handed back that essay with an A proudly sitting in the top right hand corner? You were so exuberant with pride that you never thought about how it got there. Oh, sure, you worked hard on that essay, and you felt that you were totaling deserving of nothing but the best grade. But did you ever wonder what went through your teacher's mind as she graded those thirty papers?

When rating an article on Helium, you are acting as a schoolteacher, in a sense. You have to look at structure, content and graphical errors, and review them all without bias. Helium also allows feedback on articles which, when properly used, can be an asset to its authors.

STRUCTURE

How is the article laid out? Did the author use proper paragraphs and spacing? There is nothing more frustrating than having to read an item where all the ideas run together. Separate thoughts require separate paragraphs, and there should be a space between each paragraph. Proper structure makes for easier reading and, thereby, a better rating.

CONTENT

How informative is the article? The best structure in the world won't cover up poor grammar or gibberish. An article needs to flow from one idea to another, be accurate in detail, and be interesting. If the article title is "Fishing," and there is no mention of it, then the author has failed to properly express himself (or has missed the whole idea entirely). Helium requirements state that an article should be a minimum of 400 words, yet some will submit an article containing as few as 150 words. That is a definite loss of content.

GRAPHICAL ERRORS

Did the author use appropriate punctuation throughout? It would be shameful to ignore a beautifully poised article for one missed comma, but a continual misuse of punctuation is important when providing an honest rating. Punctuation controls the flow of the article and is every bit as important as what is written.

BIAS

Some people tend to rate articles based on their nature, rather than on their quality. If you have a problem with agreeing with an article on gays or African Americans (or Republicans versus Democrats), then do the honest thing and hit the skip button. No author should be judged based on the fact that his or her beliefs do not coincide with your own.

FEEDBACK

Helium's feedback option allows everyone the opportunity to praise an author when their work is considered to be good quality, and a means of help under the right circumstances. It is not in place for the purpose of nit picking or (as previously stated) to express your biases. If you are going to let an author know that they "missed one comma," I suggest that you be very certain that they did, indeed, miss it. And never use the feedback process as a source to voice your prejudices or differences of opinions.

Helium is a great place to learn and to grow, and honest ratings are the backbone that helps each of us to maintain our goals. Keep your English teacher in mind and rate each article like she (or he) would have. Be fair, be precise and be honest.

Learn more about this author, Tara Rijon.
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