How would you describe the narrator of this email? Is she reliable, biased, or a paranoid, self-centered bitch who is clearly taking out her frustration over her failed acting career on everybody close to her?
In paragraph 3, the narrator describes her husband as being “immature”. Do you consider the narrator’s decision to use money from their savings account to get a nose job and then, three months afterward, run off with some younger guy she just met at the gym as being mature? Does this hypocrisy undermine the authority of her account?
In paragraph 4, the narrator describes her new boyfriend as having a “successful” career. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
What do you think the narrator’s new Porsche symbolizes? Her reckless behavior? Her desperate desire to recapture her youth? Her inability to consider the consequences of her actions?
Notice that the email has been sent from a Hotmail address. Underline 5 other examples that suggest the narrator is living in the past.
Do you think that it’s fair for the narrator to bring up that Hawaii business trip? Keep in mind that it happened 5 years ago, her husband and that waitress were both extremely drunk and they only kissed for a couple of seconds before he ended it, and then he immediately went back to his wife and confessed the whole thing and she told him that she forgave him and agreed that they should just put the event behind them, yet, despite this, ever since then she has managed to bring it up whenever they have had any kind of disagreement, no matter how minor or irrelevant.
What terms would you use to describe the narrator’s tone? Here are some examples to get you started: whiny, irritating, egocentric, self-righteous, critical, self-esteem-destroying, dream-crushing.
Don’t you think it’s ever justifiable for a wife to steal her husband’s phone and read his private messages? And then, after she doesn’t find anything incriminating and her husband finds out and tries to question her about it, do you think that the problem can just be erased by her shrugging and changing the subject to that Hawaii trip, yet again?
Rate the narrator’s grasp of grammar and syntax on a scale from 1-10, with 1 being “incompetent”, and 10 being “totally incompetent”.
What do you think the use of capital letters towards the end of paragraph 7 is trying to convey? Is the narrator being sarcastic or is she truly not angry about the stream of drunken, angry voicemails her husband her sent last week at three in the morning? Seriously, I’m confused about this.
In the final paragraph, the narrator warns her husband not to give any more of her emails to his class to analyze. Do you think that the narrator’s resistance to criticism is ironic considering the fact that all she ever does is judge other people? Why do you think she’s so goddamn defensive?