Love and Relationships

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


New Yorker staff writer David Owen explores some reasons why panda bears living in captivity have problems reproducing.

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The two most common reasons for a relationship to fail are money issues and communication problems. Washington Post personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary posits the problem is usually a fusion of the two—a lack of communication about financial matters—and offers suggestions to avoid a potential relationship disaster.

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Writers Reihan Salam and Will Wilkinson use humor as they compare a spouse to a PS3, looking at the economic ramifications of both.

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Reporter Chinki Sinha describes the lives of women who work in a red-light district in Mumbai, India.

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Although foodie Claire Berger entertains the idea of dating men, in this essay she explains that her current relationship is with food.

Analogy • Love & Relationships • First PersonDiscussion Questions & Writing Prompts


In this nineteeth century essay, writer William Hazlitt argues that hatred of others is at bottom hatred of self.

Argument & Persuasion • Love & Relationships • First PersonDiscussion Questions & Writing Prompts


Writer Abby Sher, a 40-year-old mother, writes about her young daughter learning to deal with death.

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Same Love [Video]

In the video for the song "Same Love," hip hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis argue for marriage equality.

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Judith Newman, Gus's mother, movingly demonstrates that modern interactions via technology aren't all bad.

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Michel de Montaigne, writing in the seventeenth century, expands upon eros and marriage and other human problems.

Cause & Effect • Love & Relationships • First PersonDiscussion Questions & Writing Prompts


In the process of giving up her child for adoption, Leigh Anne Tani reflects on her own adoption into a family.

Example & Illustration • Love & Relationships • First PersonDiscussion Questions & Writing Prompts