The question about why the animals ate the pineapple is very stupid.
I have been annoyed with lots of people, but I have never eaten them! LOL It is a weird leap in logic to suggest that the animals would eat the pineapple just because they were annoyed wih it. And since they are animals (even though they talk!) one could assume that the reason they would eat ANYTHING is just because they were hungry, but the story does not mention anything about them being hungry.
The criticisms of the robo-grader seem to be that length and language complexity matter, and accuracy doesn't. Since that's also a criticism of essay grading in general, I'd say the robo-grader is an excellent parody of the whole essay grading process.
Since I am writing this post as a way of procrastinating from grading 47 college level essays, I must say that this approach does seem to exist beyond the standardized testing world and this article gave me a little bit of insight into why my students might think that a long essay with big words is "good" writing. I don't think I saw mention in either article of the elements of a well-structured essay or a solid argument. Even if your facts are off, you can make a strong, well formed argument if you've been taught that skill. For example, my students are supposed to make policy recommendations to address a social problem of their choice. I know I will see MAYBE a quarter of the essays that present an argument for their recommendations as instructed rather than a gathering of opinionated statements on the subject.
Best classes I took in high school were two years of journalism that taught me to be clear and concise, gave me the skills to write a well structured essay on ANY topic, and that a well communicated idea is not necessarily the one that uses the biggest words and takes the longest to write.
