Kinship
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines kinship as "Connection by blood, marriage, or adoption; family relationship," or "Relationship by nature or character; affinity." The same source says that relatedness is "Connected by kinship, common origin, or marriage." My subject, Justin S. feels somewhat differently. When we first began the interview, I first asked him how he felt about the terms kinship and relatedness, and what it meant to him. He told me that kinship meant everyone who was related to him by blood, but not necessarily marriage. The only members of his "family" he considered to be kin were those with whom he has a personal relationship. This relationship including constant contact through various forms of communication (AIM, E-mail, telephone, social functions, Etc.) and family gatherings and holidays. Having my own definition and understanding of these terms, I questioned the size of his family to see if maybe these members were all that existed. He told me he has many more members of his extended family who simply, "don't matter" These people fell under his explanation of relatedness, which
However, Justin, himself, does carry on strong bonds and relationships with two of his eight cousins. I just figured that he was adding them to the list because that is the likely generation to start with in most family trees. So when he died, his Uncle Roger would berate him and his death. While on his father's side, Justin's father's deceased brother caused severe trouble on his mother's side. and one small family lives in Los Angeles. I think this importance is directly related to the size and religion of the family. So the entire extended family is relatively close to each other, but still the relationships do not exists, at least not in Justin's opinion. Most of the members on his fathers side have a family business that they run, but members of Justin's mothers side does not take part. And I thought only Black families had drama! In conclusion, I feel that Justin's family is somewhat of a special case. My subject says that this is important because he received his middle name from his father's brother and has a certain level of respect and protection over him. Just like most families, there are a few people who seem to be "troublemakers," as is the case with Justin's kinship system. When we went through his family tree, I found it peculiar that he would list and start with his deceased great grandparents on both his mother and fathers sides. But when I asked about them, he told me that they were the 'keystone' of the family. " I wondered if maybe the family was spread out across the country or even international.
Common topics in this essay:
Los Angeles,
Detroit Jewish,
English Language,
AIM E-mail,
Uncle Roger,
Aunt Isabelle,
Aunt Ruth,
extended family,
Detroit Mi,
justin's family,
fathers family,
definition understanding,
uncle roger,
size family,
family gatherings,
relatively close,
relationship relationship,
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Acceptance Essays
