A Zero on an Essay by Maria Gurevich.
A mom and her grade 12 daughter showed me an essay with a mark of zero from the teacher. “I think the teacher hates my daughter. You are a teacher too,” she said. “Can you help me find something in this essay to convince the teacher that it deserves a mark?”
I have been teaching high school English long enough to know that a mark of zero means one of three things. The student didn’t read the book, the student misunderstood the question, or the work was plagiarized. Seeing all three in one essay is quite unusual.
I agreed to help, but after reading the essay, I put it down and gave this mom and daughter an apologetic look. “I am sorry,” I said. “This is an obvious zero.” The question is asking to analyze a character trait that caused the downfall of the main character. This essay clearly shows that the student did not read the book. This student did not even bother to look up a summary of the book on Sparknotes.
Usually when I say this to parents they shoot their child in the head with a death stare, and the child sweats and swears it isn’t so. Then, I never see them again. Either the child succeeds at convincing the parents that I am incompitent, or the parents get rid of the body. This mother-daughter team was different.
The mother leaned forward, her voice changed to a whisper, and she said, “Maria, I will be very honest with you. My daughter read the book, but she had so much other work that week, we paid a tutor $150 to write the essay for her. Is it possible that for $150 the tutor wrote nothing that deserves a mark?”
There was nothing in this essay that deserved a mark. Nothing but clues that whoever wrote it never read the book or the assignment. Instead of discussing one personality trait that caused the character’s tragic end, the essay listed about 15 different traits, none pertaining to the character. No details from the plot. No mention of the murder.
The client was disappointed that I could not help her save this grade. Even more disappointed that she paid dearly to learn this lesson. Her daughter ended up retaking the course with me, and we prepared her for the level of writing required in university.
There are a million ways to lose marks on an essay. But a mark of zero sends a special message from the teacher. “Don’t lie to me!” Don’t lie by putting your name on an essay you didn’t write. Don’t lie by trying to sound like you know a book you never finished. Don’t lie by changing the question because you don’t know the answer to the one your teacher asked.