Identity

All writers in this collection speak for themselves—and themselves alone.


New York Times contributor Peter Andrey Smith examines new ideas about the types of tastes we may be able to perceive.

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Writer Libby Hill examines television, namely period dramas like The Americans and Masters of Sex, and concludes that the identities people assume in life are both true and false.

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This brief memoir examines the conflict within a family when an economic reality crashes into a cultural value. Writer Jiayang Fan tries to understand why her parents accused her of a family "crime" that she did not commit and did not understand.

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Writer Alexandra Owens describes how she discovered international cuisine by visiting EPCOT's World Showcase in Walt Disney World.

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Writer Val Brown shares her own take on how Facebook has redefined the word "friend."

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Psychology expert and New Yorker contributor Maria Konnikova reports how Facebook may be affecting users' emotional states.

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Maria Konnikova, a New Yorker blogger who focuses on psychology and science, investigates people's conscious and unconscious abilities to detect lies.

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Essayist David Sedaris describes a flight to Paris in which he takes advantage of first-class seating, meets a grieving man, and wonders about the genuineness of people, including himself.

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We often associate charisma with an open, gregarious personality and great leadership. But does that mean introverts cannot lead? Author Susan Cain looks at the two personality styles.

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Pop culture expert Noel Murray describes some of the series currently considered "the best" on television as being "mid-reputable," a status between "prestige" and "trash."

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Abraham Cowley, a seventeenth-century poet, explores the vanity of human wishes and makes some proposals about how we should live.

Argument & Persuasion • Identity • First PersonDiscussion Questions & Writing Prompts


Film and television expert Jason Bailey explores the feminist impact of Cosby Show character Clair Huxtable.

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Author Joshua Wolf Shenk classifies the attributes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney separately, and explains why they were even more gifted when pairing their creativity as a team.

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Gay editor, podcaster, and blogger Zack Ford illustrates the distinction between transgender and drag.

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Author John Lanchester explains how our idea of food and what "food" means has changed.

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Andrew Solomon, who writes about psychology and popular culture in the New Yorker, considers the complexity of Robin Williams's suicide.

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Why do young people make the choices they do? The answer lies in their biology, not just their rebelliousness.

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Essayist Michel de Montaigne argues that contemplating death has several benefits.

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Writing for the Atlantic, Jessica Leigh Hester investigates the world of preppers, those folks preparing for the end of the world.

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Most people—including hiring managers—generally think extroverts make the best sales staff and managers. Recent research, though, indicates that this belief might be incorrect.

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Tomoyuki Iwashita, once employed in a "dream" job, examines the effects of his working for a traditional, demanding Japanese company.

Cause & Effect • Identity • First PersonDiscussion Questions & Writing Prompts


Noah Michelson, Executive Editor of the Huffington Post's Gay Voices, argues that homosexuals, especially homosexual celebrities, have a responsibility to come out publicly.

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