If you have a question regarding specific texts or equations, please provide contextual information so I can refine my answer. To this end, cite any sources you refer to and quote the relevant text and equations. I may not have your source on hand, or may not be free enough to look things up---the less work I have to do to answer your question, the quicker I will respond. It may be difficult to write equations in plain text. If you understand \(\LaTeX\) syntax, please provide the equation in \(\LaTeX\)ed form. Otherwise, try your best. You can also upload pictures to, e.g., imgur, and then message me the link.

State your question clearly, then supplement it with details as necessary. If you have multiple questions or your questions come in multiple parts, number them. Use paragraphs or bullet points if they help. I don't mind if your tone is informal, but please stick to proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I need to understand you to help you.

Please give me a specific question to answer. I will ignore you if your question is a generic plea for help---"I don't understand the lecture from today at all, please help!" Show me what you've read and done to try to resolve your question beforehand so I have a better idea of how to address your question. If you're having problems with a concept, for example, and have Googled it to no avail, tell me what explanations you've seen from Google and why they don't convince you.

Mistakes: bad spelling, lacks specificity, lacks sources. Can you quote and cite the lecture slides or lecture notes that contain the information that confuses you? What exactly was confusing? If you are broadly confused---you can follow everything on a lecture slide if you think about it hard enough, but you don't understand how everything fits together---, a high-level overview of the subject might help, so tell me that. If you are narrowly confused---there's just one part of a lecture slide that you don't understand, but if you assume that it's true then everything else falls together neatly---, then you've identified your problem, so tell me exactly what you're confused about. If you are extensively confused---there are many things on many slides that you don't get---, then you are likely missing foundational knowledge and I doubt I can help you much through an anonymous message, so please seek help at office hours.

Mistakes: lacks specificity, lacks sources. Please quote and cite the homework problem. In addition, as a general rule, I will only check work---more specifically, non-homework work---during office hours. If you have a question of this type, come prepared summarizing the problem and how you've attempted to solve it. While I won't check work online, you can still ask questions regarding how to approach a certain type of problem through the message form.