Christine Kenneally's Essay: The Past Is Written On Your Face

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Recommended: The study of family history

Christine Kenneally discusses the effects of DNA, ancestry, and evolution on individual’s phenotypic traits in the article titled: The Past Is Written On Your Face. During the article, Kenneally talks about Wayne Winkler and the Melungeon family. The origin of the Melungeon family has been a mystery and still proves to be unknown. Interestingly enough, the family has Caucasian facial features and a dark complexion. The question that everyone is trying to answer is where this strange combination came from. Kenneally’s thesis is that tracing your roots is a daunting task. Wayne Winkler found out that he was a member of the Melungeon family while looking through a local newspaper. After reading “One of the most fascinating mysteries in Tennessee …show more content…

While studying one’s family tree it can give a sense of ease, but it can also make one realize the brevity of life. Nowadays, people of WEIRD societies believe that they have complete control of their destiny, however, Non-WEIRD cultures realize that their life is a result of their relationships, family history, environment, and several other things. Sometimes DNA tests are a useful tool in tracing one’s history, but DNA testing does not give people all the answers. In all honesty, the only way to get all the answers would be to go back and observe history with a pencil in hand. The story of the Melungeons is a perfect example of American family trees today, Americans are a mix of everything.
Kenneally’s thesis was well supported with the Melungeon’s mysterious background, statistics from a university, and common knowledge. There is not any profound information mentioned in the article that one would not already know or that one could not live without. While reading the article, one could easily understand where the author was coming from and what she was talking about. It is easy to follow Kenneally’s train of thought. The article itself was interesting, Christine Kenneally did a wonderful job at combining psychology and family history into a mystery worth reading

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