Edit in JSFiddle

$(document).ready(function() {
  $("button").click(function() {
    var parentObj = $("#content a").parent(); 
    console.log(parentObj[0]); // gets the p tag
    var childObj = $("#content").children();
    console.log(childObj[0]); // gets the p tag
    var searchObj = $("#content").find("a");
    console.log(searchObj[0]); // gets the a tag
  });
});

<h2>jCombat Demo - jQuery DOM Manipulations</h2>

<div id="content">
  <p>This is a paragraph. <a href="#">Sample Link</a></p>
</div>

<button>Click here</button>