Paired Texts > “Three Types of Friendship” — Excerpt from The Nicomachean Ethics

by Aristotle

Roughly 340 BCE

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.

9th Grade Literary Theory 1070L
On Tragedy
  • Aristotle
  • c. 335 BCE

In this excerpt from Poetics, Aristotle offers a definition of tragedy, as well as several examples and non-examples of the genre.

Pair “On Tragedy” with “‘Three Types of Friendship’ — Excerpt from The Nicomachean Ethics” and ask students to discuss how Aristotle portrays virtue in the two texts. How does the role that virtue plays in literature compare to its role in friendship? How do both texts explore how people respond to others and to certain situations? Is there a difference between what people desire to read in literature and what they desire to experience in real life? If so, what is the difference?

9th Grade Poem
No Man Is An Island
  • John Donne
  • 1624

In “No Man Is an Island,” the speaker explains the interconnectedness of all humankind.

Pair “No Man is an Island” with “‘Three Types of Friendship’ — Excerpt from The Nicomachean Ethics” and ask students to discuss the value of friendship. What benefits does friendship provide people? Do students think that Aristotle would agree with John Donne, that there is a sense of camaraderie among all humans?

8th Grade News 1260L
More Facebook Friends, Fewer Real Ones, Says Cornell Study
  • ABC News
  • November 8, 2011

Matthew Brashears, a Cornell sociologist, conducted a study that suggested social networks may not be fulfilling our deeper social needs.

Pair “More Facebook Friends, Few Real Ones, Says Cornell Study” with “‘Three Types of Friendship’ — Excerpt from The Nicomachean Ethics” and ask students to discuss how social media has affected the types of friendship people can form. Which of Aristotle’s types of friendship do students think people are more likely to develop online? Why? Do you think that Aristotle would view online friendships as quality friendships? Why or why not?

11th Grade Autobiography 1270L
Excerpt from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • 1791

In this excerpt from his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin discusses his efforts to better himself by developing different virtues.

Pair “Excerpt from the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” with “‘Three Types of Friendship’ — Excerpt from The Nicomachean Ethics” to provide students with additional information about the concept of virtue. Ask students to discuss how Benjamin Franklin’s perspective on virtue compares to Aristotle’s. How do Franklin’s virtues complement Aristotle’s definition of a quality friendship?