Disappointment Runs Deep

The assignment was posted three weeks ago. It's on the class website and whiteboard. I reminded students every day. The requirement? Write four mini-essays (one page each) about a play we're reading - one for each section. Relate the play to yourself, your friends, or your family. I was trying to work on the "connect students to literature through personal comparisons with the text" element of the class.

And my heart literally breaks as I sift through the "essays." In my 6th period class, 6 out of 23 students did the assignment. Only 4 of those students did the entire assignment.

What am I suppose to do?!?!?!? I am trying so hard to reach these kids, to open them up to the idea that literature is a reflection of their own lives. Within the pages of books, should we choose to open them, are examples of find adultery, murder, anger, jealousy, rebellion, love, heartbreak, friendship, adventure, the search for identity...everything teenagers are going through right now!!!

I stopped one lovely little princess after class and asked her if she was worried about passing this class (after explaining the vocabulary test she failed and the essay assignment she didn't do). Her response: "Honestly, no."

What do I do?