Definition Essay About Family Descriptions

People often think of family as positive, loving, and with no flaws. However, there is almost a stereotype that all families love each other and there aren’t problems or challenges in a family. Sometimes families put people through challenges and some families aren’t “perfect”. In the book Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff, Jolly has two kids and goes through challenges with her family. Most careful readers can see how Jolly has these challenges with her kids and how she is far off from the “perfect” family. She goes through many of these challenges in life and finds a way to overcome them. Jollys family shapes her identity because the challenges she faces ends up making her stronger. Jeremy and Jilly challenging her, LaVaughn helping her out, and her past family all shape her identity.

What is a family? As a young child, Kingsolver played in her room with a toy set called “The Family of Dolls”, which served as the perfect example of what a “real” family is: “four in number, who came with the factory-assigned names of Dad, Mom, Sis, and Junior.” She always ended up comparing her family to this perfect idea of a family that she played with. As a grown-up Kingsolver went through divorce herself, creating a “broken” home for her child. Kingsolver experienced the abnormalness and society’s ideals pushed through her head. But although her family was

An example of how her family values each other is her description of the conventions and norms of her family. They are thoroughly supportive of one another, attending every graduation, baby shower, birthday, and house warming party. Her father and siblings have burial plots together so that they are never separated. Life is lived with everyone being connected and concerned for not only each person’s well-being, but happiness as well. She says her “relatives form an alliance that represents a genuine and enduring love of family…”

This example of a family’s interesting dynamics that come about can be seen in a show called, “The Fosters.” In this show, the Foster family lives in San Diego where Stef Foster and Lena Adams (in later seasons being Lena Adams-Foster) parent five children, four of them being foster children and one coming from a previous marriage. The children’s names are Brandon (17yrs old), who is the oldest, Mariana (16) and Jesus (16), who are twins that were adopted after Stef and Lena got together, and Callie (17) and Jude (13) who are siblings that both got adopted. Stef is the birth mother of Brandon, coming from a previous relationship with another charater named Mike.

Family is said to make up nearly 65 percent of one's identity. This is nearly 2/3 of one's identity, more than patriotism and religion combined (Barna). How would one’s identity be different without a family? In the novel Make Lemonade, by Virginia Euwer Wolff, her character Jolly is a teenage single mother. She has two children, Jilly and Jeremy, and no parents that care about her. Her other character LaVaughn is a young teenager that babysits Jilly and Jeremy. She also has her sights set on college. Identity is shaped by family because, family is there to support one's decisions, teach valuable lessons, and prompt self-confidence.

A family consists of a group of interacting individuals related by blood, marriage, cohabitation, or adoption who interdependently perform relevant functions by fulfilling expected roles. (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle, 2014, p. 150)

A family is defined as a group of people who are somehow related. A family relationship either can negatively or positively affect that child physically, mentally, and or socially when they are older. It may even affect how they treat people. Melinda is a teenage girl who went through problems like victim of raped, depression, considered an outcast, and high school all together. What if a child felt no one wanted to listen, maybe they had no way out, - or even that they couldn’t speak up?

A family is seen as a group of people who are biologically or psychologically related. They connect on historical, emotional

As most siblings commonly do, they tend to argue. In one scene, Jordan and Brianna are arguing over a box of cereal in the grocery store. Instead of just selecting another box of cereal from the shelf, Jordan refused to let the other side of the box go and proclaimed it “his”. Considering the Brianna is the youngest, Bernie automatically made Jordan give her the box of cereal. For most families, the parent letting younger sibling have their way is relatable.

Some people say that life is all about family. If something goes wrong in your life, it doesn't matter as long as you have your family by your side. Family is what life is all about, right?However, when some people reach a certain age, they forget about family. Family goes from being a top priority, to being last on a list. These people alter their priorities and they become their own top priority. They focus on their education, their careers, and creating an independent life for themselves. Eventually, they find an apartment, move away, and life is all about them. Sadly, they grow up and move on without their family. Leah Remini, known for her role as Carrie in The King of Queens, proves that at no matter what age, family should always be

Daughter-Elizabeth (aka Lizzy) is quite different from her older brother, she has never considered school important and although she graduated it was a very close call. She is defiant to any of the rules her parents have set, Lizzy has been that way since she

While it may be cliche to profess, it is nevertheless true, my family is everything to me, two, in particular, own my heart. The first is an energetic six-year-old girl named Scout. She is my eldest niece and my love for her is unconditional. She has an aura about her that both inspires and motivates me. She is a fiery ball of innocence and sunshine that makes me laugh and melts my heart. To quote Shakespeare: "though she be but little, she is fierce." Any tears or worry vanish from my reality when she is near. One could say, without reservation, she is my whole world. Scout looks up to me, always imitating what I say and do. Never wishing to disappoint her, I strive to always keep this in mind. Setting a good example for her is imperative

Determining family structure and dynamics as well as defining the family is a complex process. Personally, I come from a very traditional family. Much like the assumptions made by the students in the article Defining Family: Young Adults’ Perceptions of the Parent-Child Bond by Mellisa Holtzman (2008). This is what comes to mind when most people define family; a nuclear family, with married parents, and biological children. However, a family is a complex system and can take on many different forms.

Louisa May Alcott is a prominent American Author that captured the hearts of many people with her heart-wrenching stories about family. In her most famous story, Little Women, one can see the effects of family on one's feelings. It shows that even in the midst of misfortune, one often looks onto their family for emotional support. Sometimes, that time of misfortune can derive from family troubles in its own. Though not always, the people closest to a person easily have the ability to influence his or her's feeling or mood, therefore it is clear that one's family has a great affect on a person's happiness.

A family can be defined in many ways, but the common denominator in all is the love and fulfillment one gets by being surrounded by family members. Families can sometimes be at odds with each other, but the strain of this type of relationship usually creates an upsetting feeling to the people involved. People want others to rely on, talk to, do things with, share, love, embrace, and be part of. No matter what the family dynamic is the qualities the word family has will remain the same, as time goes by, and life evolves once again for every person living their