THE AUTHORING AUCTIONEER

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“It would be wicked to give it a zero because it does show some very basic skills we are looking for, like conveying some meaning and some spelling.” That’s what Peter Buckroyd, a British high school English teacher, told the Associated Press after he awarded a student 2 points out of a possible 27 for writing nothing but an expletive on a test paper. The R-rated phrase consisted of two words: The first started with the letter F, and the second word was “off.” Mr. Buckroyd said that the student would have received a higher grade had the phrase been punctuated. Otherwise, the teacher felt it would have been inappropriate to give the student a zero, because the obscenity was spelled correctly and expressed the student’s thoughts. (You can read the story on FOXNews.com) I have to say that I am rather conflicted over the aspects of this little story from across the pond.