OK. Tell me what it is you want this e-mail to do.
3
Now, tell me something about how you met, how long you have been together, and what you like about him. We want to make it clear to him that you have considered this carefully and that you know what breaking up will mean. Also we want to consider what sort
of e-mail Rocky is going to respond to
most favorably.
5
That’s good; you’re going to be very clear, but if you want him to understand why you’re breaking up with him, you need to make your reasons for breaking up clear. What are you going to write for the reasons?
2
All that sounds good. Now how are you going to present these reasons? Are you just going to list them? Not a good plan. Or are you going to give examples so he understands what you mean by intolerance in each case?
A much better idea.
1
That sounds like a good plan. How are you going to end this e-mail?
4
I think you have a good proposal for writing the e-mail. I say you should go for it.
First I'll define intolerance for him so he knows what I mean by that word. Then I'll give him four different types of intolerant talk that I find offensive. I'll talk about his intolerance of people who dress differently from him and about how he can't tolerate people who listen to different music from what he likes. I'll mention his intolerance of my mother's cooking, and finally I'll discuss his intolerance of my dog. How can he not like my dog?
Fortunately, I've kept a diary where I've recorded almost word for word everything that Rocky has said in my presence. I'll use two examples of each type of intolerance for my reasons.
In this e-mail, I am going to make clear that I want to break up with Rocky because of his intolerance for the people whom he considers "different."
Well, I still want to be friends with him. I would like to think that maybe after reading this, he will think about what I'm objecting to and possibly make some effort to change
Rocky and I have been good friends for several months now and have been dating for three weeks. Rocky is a very nice person and is fun to be with most of the time. I wish that things were working out better between us, but it's just not working for me. I feel strongly that it is only fair to Rocky to write this e-mail and tell him why I want to do this.