am i wrong or is it fucked up for someone writing something as important as a thesis to
a - know next to nothing about the topic and...
b - ask people to do their research for them.
you are wrong. a senior thesis is generally written by an undergraduate student as an act of discovery, not an act of expertise. As part of that discovery, a person might happen upon an internet forum, or in other words a discussion site. You know, where things might be discussed. Attitudes like yours are part of the reason so many students end up pulling out their hair trying to reinvent the wheel. Of course in principle such students should be receiving guidance from faculty and others, but often those kinds of people actually do more to discourage than encourage.
It is understandable that some people are not into helping other people, but would rather prefer to sit back and watch others 'sink or swim.' but there are others who believe that guidance is worth something, in that it might help others to be less lost or confused, or less likely to be manipulated by the myriad machinations of society at large.
that said,
is asking a lot there lexie. and then of course you backtrack and make it seem as though you are only asking for 20 seconds of somebody's time? it is presumptuous. it would have been less so if you had given your potential enlighteners something to go on ...
I'm brainstorming ... he really fascinates me. However, I'm at a loss for specifics. Is there any particular themes or issues he deals with
it seems like it would be hard to get to the point of writing a thesis without being able to pick out themes and issues, assuming that you had actually read any of his books. really you could open any book and read a page or a paragraph and something happens and then you could say 'aha! a theme!'
Then you could have come on here and said "i'm interested in these themes. i know it's asking a lot from strangers, but if you all would be willing to discuss these themes with me, not only would it help me in my work, but it would be doing me a service as an individual, because of course i'm not just using these books as a tool to advance my career, but i'm actually engaging them as authentic works of art."
Finally, it also shows good faith to participate in a forum like this, not just ask for help. So for example, you could contribute to a discussion in another thread, even if it is just to say "that was an interesting post" or "huh. i have a question on that topic." however, you did not do that, nor did you thank the person who finally posted a list of writers influenced by bukowski. which kindof makes it look like the skeptics were correct in treating you dismissively.