By This guy - 21/02/2016 02:53 - United States - Jackson

Today, my teacher gave me a 0% on my personal narrative in my writing class. His only comment on the whole paper was, "Too long, didn't read." FML
I agree, your life sucks 28 010
You deserved it 2 564
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Top comments

steelersfan501 17

That's horrible, try taking this to the principal. It worked when my Spanish teacher did the exact same thing to me.

481 10
monagro 22

Was there a word/page limit? If so, YDI. If not, FYL.

417 22

Comments

NostalgiaFreak9 41

I hope he loses his job, because people like that deserve to lose their job if they choose not to do it.

2 19
hardcorefan16 22

You should go complain. That's what teachers do there suppose to grade papers and ******* read them. You should really tell someone. That isn't right at all.

4 8
InfiniteSunshine 32

This is a personal narrative, so often it's difficult to put limits on the amount/length of writing, since personal experiences vary in length needed to accurately describe them and often depends on the individual. However, if the teacher did give a limit, which you then went over, that is a little bit of your own fault. But, that is still not an excuse to to completely fail you, and also to just not read it at all, whether it was too long or not, reading papers is part of his job. Also, unless it's incoherent rambling, length does not determine the legitimacy and strength of the paper, so at the very least you should get some marks. Go higher up and report his behavior because it's unfair and wrong.

12 3
kirkaygri 18

Very true, but if given a limit, you need to pick a subject you can explain within that limit. If what you want to write about is too broad/detailed, you need to choose a different subject. But I do agree with giving a failing grade, if the student went blatantly went over the limit without regard for the directions of the assignment. School is more about learning to follow rules and blending with society in a functioning way than it is about actually learning most subjects.

10 1
mylifeinflowers 2

While this may not necessarily be the case, personal narratives are one of the most frequently used formats for college admissions (they're used in the common application, which is huge) and those have very strict length limits. In those cases, going over the limit would automatically disqualify students from being considered for admission. I know many teachers try to incorporate this into their lesson plans to help prepare students. I don't know if it's the case in this situation, but there are a lot of good reasons to deny a student credit for writing a paper that is too long. Personally, I would have no issue returning a paper to a student who didn't meet the requirements (either too long or too short) without editing, but I would give them the option to revise on their own and resubmit. We don't really know if OP had that opportunity or not.

3 0
Koalabiter 6

And fail because it's not MLA format.

0 1
ThrottleJockey 35

I had a similar experience in my senior economics class for our final report. The only real criteria for length was in that it had to be at least 5 pages. I was having a bit of difficulty coming up with a topic so my teacher, knowing that I was a bit of a car nut, came up with one for me. The exact title he gave me was, "How Was The Automobile A Catalyst For Change In America?" I had a blast writing it and turned in a 23 page report. He did the same thing to me as OP; 0% and "too long, didn't read." I showed him the report syllabus that HE have us and pointed out that there was no set length limit. He reneged, read it, and awarded me a 100%.

11 1
chinaski7628 32

If the teacher sets no page maximum, then you (or OP) should not be penalized at all for writing a long paper. I'm glad your teacher adjusted your grade. I love it when students become excited about researching or writing on a topic. I'm careful to always set page limits (and I strictly enforce them), but when a student finds a topic they're passionate about, I'll usually set up time outside of class to help them write additional "chapters" beyond the required essay and I'll usually give extra credit for it. I've also helped students get their extended pieces published. It's important to follow assignment guidelines for class submissions, but those guidelines don't mean that you can't extend your writing for your own purposes.

6 1
TeacherTeacher 11

If you were given a maximum length limit and exceeded it, you deserved to fail. You cannot follow directions. If you were given no length limit, talk to the teacher. If you get no satisfaction from the teacher, talk to the administration.

12 2
cm0112 11

Yea I'm pretty sure a teacher isn't allowed to give a student a 0 Bc he doesn't wanna read it.

2 6
Etweens96 25

Id report this to the superintendent or the board, it's obvious your teacher is targeting you for some superficial reasons. I'm sorry this happened to you Op, I hope this gets resolved

1 8
MaiqTheLiar 11

M'aiq always says "Talking less is saying more".

2 2