Yup. Shitty assignment. Shitty paper.

However the teacher in question gave her a 0.

She would have gotten the same grade if she didn’t turn anything in at all.

That doesn’t seem correct.

Teachers don’t "give” grades, students earn them. If the teacher felt that the paper didn’t meet the criteria, they should score it appropriately and provide context/reasoning.

A score of 0 feels "given”.