H04057 STUDENT SEEKS HELP - 9/19/04 - HARDY FORUM ARCHIVES
From: ? hardycor@owl.csusm.edu
Subject: Student
Date: September 19, 2004 7:07:24 AM PDT
Dear All,
The following message came to me privately (from France obviously). I
would like to assume it's a genuine plea for help? I would welcome any
suggestions.
Many Thanks,
Betty
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 14:22:53 +0200 (CEST)
From: a igou <igoulalene_a@yahoo.fr>
Subject: seeking inforamtion and help
To: hardycor@owl.csusm.edu
Dear professor, It is with great pleasure that i'm writing to you.My
name is abed igoulalene from Morocco a student of English literature in
graduation year.Seraching the Thoams hardy's association on web i found you
and i thought that you may help me in some way.This year i'm going to
prepare my theses on Thomas hardy's works under the title " Wessex ,The
setting in Thomas Hardy's works" but my great problem is that i am a poor
student i don't have access to sufficient references ,so please i'm seeking
your help not only you personnaly but anybody of the TTHA can help me in
any way. I' m looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible
beacuse the academic year is going to start. Yours
faithfully, Abed IGOULALENE .
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From: DPowers328@aol.com
Subject: Re: Student
Date: September 19, 2004 5:21:05 PM PDT
Report it as spam.
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From: boughbender@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: Re: Student
Date: September 20, 2004 7:10:54 AM PDT
Without wishing to sound heartless, I agree. And if the message is genuine then I'm afraid I have little patience with students who immediately send out such pleas for help without first demonstrating that they have made some effort to understand their subject and given a little thought as to how they might approach it. There is so much information available online and really no excuse for such total bewilderment unless, as appears likely here, the course of study chosen is somewhat over-ambitious.
Yours grumpily
Bob
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From: hardycor@owl.csusm.edu
Subject: Re: Student
Date: September 19, 2004 2:16:27 PM PDT
Thank you Peter and Eric for your insights regarding the Morrocan student.
Betty
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From: Rosemarie.morgan@yale.edu
Subject: Re: Student
Date: September 20, 2004 8:20:13 AM PDT
As a recipient of literally dozens of these kinds of letters (weekly, monthly) I tend to agree with Grumpy Bob.
To start with TTHA's site alone sports more than enough "Wessex" data and detail to get started on. The *Novels* page features a host of contemporary illustrations, the *Poem of the Month* forum discusses (and has discussed) Hardy's "Wessex/Nature" poems, the *Resources* page has a section on dialect, the *Maps* page holds a variety of Wessex maps including those designed by Hardy himself, and the *Members'* Page features up to a comprehensive, up--to-the-minute Checklist of works published on Hardy. And as for TTHA's *Links* page at http://www.yale.edu/hardysoc/Links/linksone/Links.htm -- there are at least 300 Hardy-related websites waiting, at a finger's touch, to be researched!
I second Bob's grumps!
Rosemarie
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From: NHardyboy@aol.com
Subject: Re: Student
Date: September 20, 2004 10:50:08 AM PDT
To be honest, I wasn't--and still am not--sure what this student is asking for. By "references," does he mean sources for his thesis? Or is he asking for reputable scholars to vouch for his work once it is finished? By emphasizing his poverty, is he hinting for donations to fund his search for appropriate references? (If that's the case and if solicitations of funds are allowed, let me tell you the hardships of being a visiting assistant professor. . .) I'm sure much of my confusion is an ESL issue, but I really and truly don't know what this person WANTS!
Paul Niemeyer
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From: hardycor@owl.csusm.edu
Subject: Re: Student
Date: September 20, 2004 10:58:38 AM PDT
Thank you all for your suggestions. I took Peter's advice, copied below,
and asked the writer for this information. So far he has not responded.
If he does I will simply inform him of the great resources Rosemarie has
cited on the TTHA website.
Betty
Betty, Name of University + supervising Professor's Email should clarify
authenticity and dispel any worries you may have. Best wishes, Peter
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