Hello. Although You have submitted a text, You have not submitted any questions about it, which prevents me from giving you any answers. However, I will tell you what this text means and I hope it will help you.
This text is an excerpt from "True West" written by Sam Shepard, where we read about the dispute between two brothers. Those brothers are Lee and Austin and they're competing over who can write the best Western theater play.
In the excerpt shown above, Lee is claiming that he can write about the real western, escaping the stereotyped myth that western theater plays present. That's because Lee has lived in the Wild West and knows what he was really like, so he believes he can write a much better play, real and full of success.
The author's prior knowledge with some opinions from others
If the letter you are referring to is the one you get when you have your credit card account or bill delivered to your home, then the best answer would be most likely the second one. The letter provides the recipient information about the condition of his own bank account.
The two parts of this excerpt from W. W. Jacobs's "The Monkey's Paw" show that show the White family doesn't believe in the talisman's power are:
"Sounds like the 'Arabian Nights,'" said Mrs. White, as she rose and began to set the supper.
The 'Arabian Nights' were stories made up by the narrator Scheherazade and told to the King over 1001 nights so that he would not kill her as he had done with so many other women in the past. In this way, it signifies that Mrs. White believes this story to be a made-up tale.
and
"Don't you think you might wish for four pairs of hands for me." Her husband drew the talisman from his pocket, and all three burst into laughter
Mr. White is jokingly asking to be given four pairs of hands, something that isn't sensible or realistic, because he does not believe in the power of the talisman to grant wishes. In the end the three burst in laughter as they do not take the talisman, or the story of it's power, seriously.
