the essay

C. was talking to his friend J. about their writing scores on the SAT.

After he hung up, he said, "I can't believe J. wrote the stupidest essay I've ever heard of and got a 9."

J.'s essay was about his family having to steal food in order to eat. Never happened.

"How come he wrote that?" I said.

"He spent too much time on the introduction and couldn't think of anything else to say."

Last year my neighbor's son got an 8 on an essay about why the essay question was stupid.