Could you provide the stident's cultural background (and your country)? Shouting in emails is definitely not normal in Western countries, but based on sometimes strange SE posts we have here, I believe it might be so in other countries (maybe those where Internet is not so common among the avrage person?) Similar are the posts where users call everyone on the Internet "Sir". Definitely not common in Western countries, but seems to be a thing.

So, she started her assignment 3 hours prior to the deadline, or she realises she had an issue 3 hours prior to the deadline. If she had attempted access on the first day the assigment was available this would not be an issue, so it is her problem and she should remain polite especially if she wants help.

How long before the deadline was the assignment posted?

Nowadays, kids treat emails similar to normal messaging. They think they are talking to their friends. Heck, lately, I got some reviewers using uppercase too 'scold' me. Yup, they won't be on my list this Christmas!

What does "you try to challenge me" even mean here? Obviously, the student's command of English seems poor, but that's particularly unclear. Is it a statement? An imperative? A question?

@Noldorin May not be an exact quote, the quotes were added in a later edit.

@GoodDeeds What was the gist of it though? And why did they write it? I must be missing something.

I find it hard to interpret the student's use of caps. I don't think there's any harm in presuming that it's a communication issue, rather than an expression of anger, at least for now. (For example, if done aloud, yelling "SORRY" would be weird, as would yelling the word "CODES" by itself.) Also -- if there is a real technical problem with accessing required course materials, which is outside the student's control, it would be good to be forgiving, even if it's also out of your direct control. Likely the vast bulk of your students do their work at the last minute.

There's a lot of missing context here: she presumably failed the homework, is seriously behind, will continue to fail assignments, and will wash out by the midterm, or drop. How will all that play out? Should you encourage her to drop out, or just wait for the inevitable?

Is it possible to consider asking gently in-person? To understand the intent? It might not be right now in the Health Crisis.

@GlennWillen even with the benefit of the doubt on the caps, "you try to challenge me" is confrontational at best. That said I think ignoring it, at least unless this becomes a pattern over an extended period of time is probably for the best

@Tristan '"you try to challenge me" is confrontational at best' Probably, but there is another slight possibility: the rest of the message appears to relate to the student having lost a password, so it could be "challenge" as in "challenge-response authentication".

@Tristan: devil's advocate mode: "you try to challenge me" might be very poor English for "don't doubt me, I'm telling the truth".

Also devils advocate - there are quite a few languages that don't have a concept of capitalization. And non-native speakers sometimes don't understand the concept or how capitalization effects the tone of the message.

@max yeah, without knowing the student's linguistic background (also age, lots of baby boomers don't read capitals as shoutiing and use it for emphasis), it's hard to read anything into the capitalisation

@henning--reinstateMonica The homework posted 3 days before the due date. However, the students have been notified 3 weeks before the due date that all assessments will be online and they need to register in the book.

kids treat emails similar to normal messaging Is this not what the various Stackexchange-sites teach on so many occasions, too?

I'm surprised by the people freaking out over the use of CAPITAL LETTERS, and implying all sorts of things by their use. Ignore the case of the letters, and just focus on the actual words. SOME PEOPLE USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND MEAN NOTHING BY IT. similarly, some people use all lowercase letters and mean nothing by it. A person's interpretations of letter-case only reveals their personal biases, and not necessarily anything about the sender. Instead of pointing a finger, I recommend looking in the mirror. It's not as easy, but much more revealing.

Lost in translation. It's a word for word translation from Chinese. Most likely the student didn't know how to undo caps lock. Nothing there.

The studente problem used capitals as a form of highlighting not knowing that in internet slang it stands more for shouting... I'd try to educate her both regarding the writing style & about the fact that it's not acceptable to start asking help right before a dedline and the next time you aren't going to help her last minute.