Essay # 2 Family Affairs: Marriage in Flux

Traditional family is changing and so is their portrayal in the media. Stepfamilies, same-sex
relationships, single parent households, extended families, etc. are forcing audiences to redefine
or at least reexamine our traditional definitions of family and marriage.
Consider our readings, class discussions, website presentations and your own outside research in
order to write a thesis driven essay addressing the following prompt:

To what extent are non-traditional family dynamics represented in the media and
are they represented positively or negatively?
Sources/Readings: Remember that your argument is based on medias portrayal of this subject
and to use examples to support/reflect your arguments.
In addition, in order to support your position, you must include 3 researched/scholarly sources
and minimum 1 source from the class readings to support your claims/arguments

Some considerations can include:

-

Traditional marriage, traditional families

Cohabitation, choice in not getting married
Divorce, working together as parents, choice to walk away, battles
Gay marriage, legal and social benefits
Polygamy, sister wives, power/ control in the relationships
Blended families, how it can go right or wrong

Manuscript Notes: This essay should be five to seven 12pt. font Times New Roman,
double-spaced pages and calls for MLA documentation; you must include a Works
Cited page at the end of your essay. When you quote key phrases or clauses from your
text(s), you must provide in-text citation.