Paired Texts > Why Do We Hate Love?

by Robert Firestone, Ph.D. 2013

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

Sonnet 18
Sonnet 18
William Shakespeare

"Sonnet 18" is one of Shakespeare's best-known love sonnets, known for its opening line: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

Pair “Sonnet 18” with “Why Do We Hate Love” and ask students to discuss how each article portrays the experience of being in love.

10th Grade Poem
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
T.S. Eliot

In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the speaker laments his physical and intellectual inertia, lost opportunities, isolation, and an awareness of mortality.

Pair “Why Do We Hate Love?” with “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and ask students to discuss how people react to love. Why do romance and intimacy invoke fear and anxiety, as seen in Eliot’s poem?

12th Grade Poem
Love Letter
Love Letter
Jack London

In Jack London's "Love Letter," London expresses a romantic, introspective view into his feelings of tenderness toward a fellow writer. 

Pair “Why Do We Hate Love?” with “Love Letter” and have students discuss the less idyllic aspects of romantic entanglement. In what ways might something we often champion as an unqualified good—romantic love—cause a person trouble? Is a person’s negative reaction to being loved or being in love unconscious? Does this change your perception of London’s take on love?

11th Grade Letter 540L
Eleonora
Eleonora
Edgar Allan Poe

In Poe's short story, "Eleonora," a man poetically recounts his tale of childhood love—and loss—with a somewhat happy ending.

Pair these two texts from different periods and genres and have students apply the theories in “Why Do We Hate Love?” to Poe’s story. What does the science of love help reveal about Poe’s writing?

12th Grade Short Story 970L
Here We Aren't, So Quickly
Here We Aren't, So Quickly
Jonathan Safran Foer

In this avant-garde short story, a man reflects on his life and his relationship with his family.

Pair “Here We Aren’t, So Quickly” with “Why Do We Hate Love” and ask students to discuss the way the two texts present the idea of love. What effect does love have on our lives? How can love impact our relationships with one another?

12th Grade Short Story 680L
Excerpt from "Where Lovers Dream"
Excerpt from "Where Lovers Dream"
Anzia Yezierska

In "Excerpt from 'Where Lovers Dream'" Anzia Yezierska tells the story of a woman who runs into someone she used to know at a wedding.

Pair “Why Do We Hate Love” with “Excerpt from ‘Where Lovers Dream’” and ask students to discuss how Anzia Yezierska’s short story explores the negative experiences associated with love. Does the narrator’s ex-boyfriend appear to be having a similarly negative experience as the narrator?

11th Grade Short Story 600L
Storm at Point Sur
Storm at Point Sur
Chitra Divakaruni

In "Storm at Point Sur," the speaker meets with a lover as a storm brews on the coast. Pair “Why Do We Hate Love?” with “Storm at Point Sur” and ask students to discuss how the two texts deal with love and intimacy. According to “Why Do We Hate Love?,” what are some of the reasons people struggle to accept love and explore intimacy? How does the storm imagery and conversation between the lovers in “Storm at Point Sur” express certain ideas about love and intimacy? Although “Storm at Point Sur” is a poem, do you think it also teaches readers about love and intimacy? What lessons do you think the poem teaches and how do these compare to the information in “Why Do We Hate Love?”

11th Grade Poem
One Art
One Art
Elizabeth Bishop

In "One Art," a speaker reflects on mastering the art of losing things. Pair “Why Do We Hate Love?” with “One Art” and ask students to discuss the role of love in our lives. According to “Why Do We Hate Love?” why is love a challenging emotion for some people? According to “One Art,” how has love created challenges for the speaker? Based on the two texts, what are some common challenges that people experience when finding love or losing it?

10th Grade Poem