All writers in this collection speak for themselves—and themselves alone.
Writer Rachel Maizes recounts life with Chance, her often aggressive, mixed breed dog.
Definition • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Emily Yoffe, Slate's "Dear Prudie" and a reformed beagle owner, explains why these headstrong little monsters might not be the best choice for a first-time dog owner.
Narration • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Lena Dunham, creator and star of the HBO series Girls, chronicles the dogs that she has pursued.
Example & Illustration • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Kiri Blakeley, a contributor to Forbes magazine, defines the modern cat lady by exploring the connection women (and some men) have with cats.
Definition • Humans & Their Animals • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Naturalist Sy Montgomery gets in the mind of an octopus and is amazed not only at what she finds but also at the existing research on these intelligent creatures.
Argument & Persuasion • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Author Laurel Braitman explains that zoo veterinarians often treat problem animal behavior with the same drugs used in human mental health care.
Example & Illustration • Humans & Their Animals • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Timothy Braun, a writer and teacher, describes how his life changed after rescuing Dusty, a shelter dog on death row.
Narration • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Author David Grimm explains how one natural disaster changed the status of American pets and the way we care for them.
Process Analysis • Humans & Their Animals • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Candy Crowley, a CNN reporter and devoted dog person, explains how two cats changed her opinion of felines.
Narration • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Match.com and PetFinder.org want to help people find their perfect companion. Susan Hogan, a writer and teacher, describes her experiences using these two websites.
Comparison & Contrast • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts
Stephanie Butnik, writing for the New York Times, tries to dispel the myth that cat people are crazy by defining the "new" cat owner.
Definition • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Jon Mooallem, a writer for the New York Times, investigates the "designer" dog fad which has created Labradoodles and puggles.
Definition • Humans & Their Animals • Mixed Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Farhad Manjoo, a technology columnist, argues that people deserve some dog-free zones.
Argument & Persuasion • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Writer Writer Roz Warren recounts the family's decision to have expensive gall bladder surgery on a beloved 13-year-old dog.
Argument & Persuasion • Humans & Their Animals • Mixed Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Writing for the New Yorker, Patricia Marx explains how someone can take a pet anywhere because most people don't understand the difference between an "emotional support animal," which is a pet, and a bona-fide service animal, which is a highly-trained professional with a distinct skill set.
Process Analysis • Humans & Their Animals • Mixed Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts
What can an animal do if its owner neglects and/or abuses it? Charles Siebert, contributing writer to the New York Times Sunday Magazine, addresses that question as animal rights continue to evolve.
Argument & Persuasion • Humans & Their Animals • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts
Writer Elain Wherry compares the styles of bosses with the behaviors of common canines.
Analogy • Humans & Their Animals • Mixed Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
When is it okay to put down a zoo animal? European and US zoos want their animals to have different experiences, which means that healthy animals sometimes die at the zookeeper's hands. Writing for Mother Nature Network, Laura Moss explains the differences in zoo philosophies.
Comparison & Contrast • Humans & Their Animals • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Lauren Slater of National Geographic details the problems that exotic pets have caused their owners.
Example & Illustration • Humans & Their Animals • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts • Connect with Author
Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau describes the animals that he encounters during his two-year-long experiment of living a simple life in nature.
Description • Humans & Their Animals • First Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts
The staff of the AV Club list twenty-one examples of filmed entertainment (from the early twentieth century to the present) in which animals accidentally or intentionally came to harm.
Example & Illustration • Humans & Their Animals • Third Person • Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts