Til debt do us part failures

Writing Project #2: Money & Relationships

The second writing project for English 95x will be an essay surrounding the topic of money at the personal and interpersonal level (ie. financial issues with friends, family members, etc), rather than take on a larger societal issue. We have read a variety of texts to start giving you some ideas of conversations taking place around these topics. For this essay, you will use the guidelines below and pick one of the two prompts to write your essay on.

NOTES FOR SUCCESS:

· Your essay should NOT be one long summary of the article. Your voice/stance in relation to the essay prompt should be the focus. No more than about 20% of your essay should be from the article.

· In your body paragraphs, make sure to support your central thesis with evidence from the course text, as well as with personal experience (if applicable).

· This is not a research essay; please only use the articles from our course text of Money Changes Everything. Make sure there is source material (ie. quotes and paraphrases of information/opinions) from the article to use in your essay, and don't forget to cite each one to avoid plagiarism.

WRITING PROMPT 2: In “Till Debt Do Us Part,” Mary Loftus claims that “the way a couple deals with money disagreements and disappointments can predict the long-term success, or failure, of the relationship” (99). Do the methods a couple uses to settle their financial disputes ultimately determine the relationship’s success? If so, how? If not, why not? (Consider ways of responding; you may find that you agree, disagree, or simultaneously agree/disagree with Loftus. The most important aspect is articulating your thesis/argument and supporting your position with the how and why of your position, using specific examples from the text.)

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: These are the basic requirements that need to be met in order to earn a passing grade on the essay.

· 3-4 double-spaced pages in length—not including your citation page

· A clearly stated thesis, which responds explicitly to the prompt

· Standard essay elements, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion

· Quotations and/or paraphrases from the texts to support your ideas (more than one)

· MLA format, including visual format, in-text citation, and a “Works Cited” page