What is this thing called family

Definition
Please read the essay entitled: What Is This Thing Called Family? by Lee Herrick. Herrick is a poet, a writer, and
a college professor. This essay is based on his experience as an adopted child which gives him a unique
perspective about what it is that ties families together.
The essay posted here is published in university textbooks including our own. You may also find it on p. 695-697
of our textbook, The Writer’s Workplace with Readings: Building Writing Skills, in a section of further readings for
the college writer.
Directions: Please reflect on the ties within your own family that may go beyond shared genetics. What is your
own definition of family? What are the responsibilities family members should have for each other? Write an
essay that presents several situations you have observed over the years, and give your expectations of how
family members should treat each other.
You will write your own personal definition of family. Definition writing is a method of developing or exploring the
meaning of a term. You may choose to approach this by placing the term in its larger class. Family is a way of
grouping people in a society, for example. You may also choose to approach this by negation, by explaining what
the term is not. Family is not a corporation, for example. You may choose to define the term with examples, or
you may choose to define the term with analysis or an extended definition. For more information about writing
definition texts, please see Chapter 24: Developing Paragraphs: Definition and Analysis.
Notes:
The recommended assignment length is 1-2 pages.
The citation for this article is included here for you to study as an example, noting details such as which elements
to include, order, punctuation, capitalization, page numbers and formatting. Please feel free to use this in the
reference section of your paper..
Herrick, L. (2016). What is this thing called family? In Scarry, S., &
Scarry, J., The writer’s workplace with readings: Building
college writing skills. (9th ed., pp. 695-697). Cengage Learning.

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