Reactionary Paragraphs

After reading Farrell's "Family: Idea Institution, and Controversy" I began to question my definition of family. Farrell brought up some key points of the ever changing society and what is thought to be a normal family in the twenty-first century. We have a lot of new cultures in America and that also plays a huge role on what is portrayed as the typical family. The author did a good job in backing up his definition of family with statistical facts as well as using real life examples that related to the theme. He made sure to show how the term and meaning of family has changed throughout the decades. Doing so gave the reader a clear understanding on the argument that the author was trying to make. It was in third person point of view, making all of his opinions strong statements.

The piece by Andrew Sullivan "Why the 'M' Word Matters to Me" was interesting and something unexpected. From reading the title I did not expect it to be from a personal experience of a homosexual man. It made the reader relate to the topic by using typical questions that anybody straight or gay would ask  themselves. It is almost expected by parents for you to go on to college, get a degree, get a job then ultimately get married. For Sullivan's parents the most important thing his family valued was marriage. His definition of marriage is not what is typical but he still wishes to have the feeling of loving someone after going through some tough times in his adolescent years. He spoke about his definition through a personal experience while still being able to relate whether you were heterosexual or homosexual.

Somerville's "The Case Against Same Sex Marriage" was the total opposite of the Sullivan piece. It was a opinion piece but it was based on all facts. Both pros and con's on same sex marriages were brought up, however the author made sure to argue the pro-same sex marriage facts were proven wrong based on his opinion. She made sure to bring up all aspects of the argument such as moral views as well as the views based on the law. Every aspect of thought was taken into consideration when writing this in order to make sure every basis was covered. It was clear and concise to understand the points in which the author was trying to make.

Overall all three pieces did a good job in proving there arguments with facts and personal experiences. It gave the reader no choice but to put all statements into consideration when defining the meaning of a topic such as family and marriage in there own opinion.