6 Journal Entries

 
 Each  entry  should  highlight  the  ways  in  which  various  topics 
covered  in  this  course  have  influenced  the  ways  in  which  you  think  about  the  institution  of  the    family, 
marriage,  relationships  and  other  constructed  identities.  This  assignment  is  an  opportunity  for  you  
to  consider    the    ways    in    which    your    individual    lived    experiences    challenge    and/or    confirm  
contemporary scholarship on marriage and the family as discussed in this course.
Journal Entry #1-Why Study Family and Other Close Relationships?
Use research and/or your imagination to write a day in the life story of your mother, father, grandparents or 
siblings when they were your current age. What benefit might such a reflection exercise have on how you 
view and/or relate to the person(s) you wrote about?
Journal Entry #2 –Social Class
Re-read pgs. 58-62
1)   How does your life compare to those of Tommy Johnson and Randall Simmons? Whose life is 
closer to yours. Can you think of ways in which income has specifically shaped your personal
choices and behaviors?
2)   In a country as “free” and open as the U.S. why does income still shape our choices and behaviors?
Journal Entry #3- Family and Intimate Relationships
In what ways have your intersecting identities of race, gender, class, sex, ethnicity and social class informed 
your beliefs about education, parenting, family, expectations of children and discipline style.
Journal Entry #4-Marriage
Imagine or describe your own wedding and the involvement of your family in the planning process.  In what 
ways did you incorporate family traditions and introduce new ones? In what ways, if any, did you feel
pressure to meet certain expectations (costs, invite lists, location, etc.)? What rituals or acts were performed
to  illustrate  the  coming  together  of  two  families?  Finally,  considering  the  various  types  of  marriages 
discussed in Chapter 7, what do you think makes for a successful marriage?
Journal Entry #5-Thinking about Parenthood & Raising Children
Describe the time around the moment you realized that your mother and father or other parental figures
were in fact not perfect or “normal”. In what ways has this realization impacted your ideals about parenting,
gender norms and raising a family.
Journal Entry #6-Helping Families Flourish
For this entry, I ask that you think about the life lessons you’ve learned thus far in life and draft a letter to
a younger sibling, child or other relative. In the final chapter of our textbook, the author asks the question,
“What do Families need to Flourish?” and in your letter you have the opportunity to share your own words 
of wisdom about what the receiver of your letter may need to know in order to flourish. After writing this 
entry, I encourage you to share this entry with the intended recipient if you choose.