You've not told us how you access your email.
What (I think) you're referring to is requesting a 'read receipt'. The option to do so is definitely there with proper email clients (i.e. programs such as Outlook Express, Thunderbird or Windows Live Mail) but might not be present with
all email services which you can access through your web browser. So I can't guarantee that it will be available to you (but it probably will).
However you need to look for a box marked 'Read Receipt' and put a tick in it. It might be evident straight away or you might need to click on something like 'Options'in order to find it.
For example, here's what I see when I go to create a new email:
https://img4.hostingpics.net/pics/816123GMX1.jpg
You'll see that there's an 'Options' button on the right. Clicking on it brings up this:
https://img4.hostingpics.net/pics/581209GMX2.jpg
Putting a tick against 'Read Receipt' accomplishes what you're seeking to do.
What you see yourself will be different (unless you happen to use GMX for your email) but most email services will have something similar.