In reading the story: The Epic of Son Jara and in the movie we watched in class and in some of the other short stories I read on the internet I noticed that they all have one main theme. That theme would be the importance of family to the African culture. Not just their immediate family but also their extended family as well.

I grew up in a predominately African American neighborhood on the east side of Detroit. Most of my friends and classmates were of the African American decent, and I re

member that being around them I learned that family was very important to them. My best friend for example, had her grandmother and her great grandmother living with them and to that family it was perfectly normal to them to have their extended family living with them. I can remember going to her house and sitting and listening to the stories of my friends relatives that her grandmother would tell us. The grandmother would basically tell us of that family history. Stories told to her by her grandfather and great grandfather. I also remember go to church with my friend and listening to the service and thinking how vocal these people were. They did not just sit quietly; they got involved in the service. I remember asking my friend, "is the service always like this?" She told my yes, which was the way

Some common words found in the essay are:
African American, White American, Son Jara, White Americans, African Literature, african literature, african american, family history stories, history stories told, opinion african literature, extended family, stories told, white american, family history, generations family, generation generation, family remember, today's society,
Approximate Word count = 545
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)