Does anyone put jokes in their essays?

[Wesley]

I was just wondering if it was appropriate to put joke style writing in parts in your essays.

For example in my government and politics essays I sometimes put two examples of what I'm talking about, and then for the third I put some completely random.

"I personally would like to see who these 32% of the population are; my feeling is that it may be die-hard loyalists of parties, bureaucrats given power by politicians and mistrusting old ladies who open their doors to men pretending to be gas men who use their bus pass as British Gas ID."

I mean is that suitable in your opinion?

Just wondering because I know no one else in my class that would try to put something like that in.

[Johelian]

I have done in several essays; personally, I think that the evaluators could do with a laugh ;) It also shows that youre familiar enough with your material that you feel comfortable using it in different ways, rather than reeling off a list of facts that you have memorised but dont fully understand. Just keep it relevant and I cant see that there will be a problem with it; I didnt get any terrible grades because of it.
________
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[Haver]

That's pretty much all I ever do (leave your political bias at the door, though).

[LukeLee]

At university we are forbidden from using the terms I or me in our essays. It's been some time since i last wrote an essay, but from what i remember it's supporting your opinion through evidence without making the essay sound personal. I guess it also depends on the subject you are doing, but both psychology and media seem to be against it. It might be better to do the jokes subtly.

There again if you are doing Alevels, i dont think they'll be as strict, Or if it's your first year of uni dont worry about it yet, the first year is a practise year, so try things in your essay and see how it goes, the marks dont count to your final degree classification.

[Blackfox]

You bastards have just made me remember i have two essays for tomorrow. Gah!

[LukeLee]

You bastards have just made me remember i have two essays for tomorrow. Gah!

looks like you might have a late night ;)

[The3rdChildren]

I do it, yeah. My writing is never serious.

[Maxi678]

I've put in a couple of jokes in some essays i done. The examiners docked marks and said jokes are not allowed in essays and to read the paper carefully.

The paper had no rule bout having jokes in essays. Jeeze, thought they were sad. Now i know they are sad and have no humour

[BGS]

I did it but only for the exams I didn't care too much about.
I wouldn't really put that in your essay though. "Examiners" are pretty much always underpaid (and often underqualified) teachers who'll mark yours (and thousands of others) paper in their spare time. You'd think that putting in something funny like that will make them smile. It won't, trust me. They'll be loads of people putting in stuff like that and it's more likely to just make them annoyed with you and your paper.

If you want to please an examiner just make sure your handwriting is easily readable, that the work is well set out and that it's clear what you're trying to say in a sentence.

[Meik]

I suppose it depends on who is marking it, and if you luck out with getting someone who has a sense of humour. My brother is a teacher and he always gets a kick out of funny comments that some students put in their essays.

[Android18a]

Essays? One of the many reasons I dropped A-levels like a ton of bricks.

[system_error]

I never had to write a essay where some sort of joking would have been in the right place. Of course sometimes it is a good way to underline your opinion about a certain topic but I generally would avoid joking because such things can be misunderstood pretty easily.

I normally don't like to write about politics because compared to most teachers I am rather conservative and aggressive - which resulted in a few bad grades even though my essay was perfect concerning grammar, spelling and the information I presented.
If you know the teacher/professor/student who will check your work I think you will know if he will be pleased or angry about any jokes otherwise don't use them and focus on information.

[Syxoed]

It's dull to be searious.

[Blackfox]

I have just wrote an essay entitled "The Potential Conflict between Conservation and Production". And I put 0 amount of jokes in it.

Buy c'mon how many jokes are there about rainforests? :/

[#1cubeplayer]

From what I know, you should be the authorative voice of your essay and therefore you should not use I, my, you, we, etc. Only slip jokes in if you know the teacher and if you think it will be of their fancy.

[Athriller]

I love snide remarks in essays, but I hate it when people try to be funny for the sake of trying to be funny. Most of the jokes are God awful attempts at being satirical, and I feel like punching the author in the face.

And I must say, the old women remark did it for me. Pistols at dawn.

[rizz]

For my english coursework, my essay about Jaws last year had a few jokes in it, i can't remember exactly but I think there was something along the lines of the shark being scary because it is indestructable.

[Blackfox]

I love snide remarks in essays, but I hate it when people try to be funny for the sake of trying to be funny.

My friend did that in his personal statement, had i been an Admissions Tutor i would have binned it and presumed they were taking the piss.

But knowing him, he'll get in.

[Surrealist]

I sometimes do, I know I did whole comedy-based essays for English coursework last year.

Politics is an acceptable subject to do it in methinks, I do it anyway.

[mario114]

Your above quote would work really well in an english essay if it was in the style of a news paper, or other material which can allow for personal views/homur, but i don't know anything about politics, ask your teacher/lecture he/she would know.

[Raining_again]

well if its not horribly racist etc, im sure a marker would find it funny. After all they do have to read thousands of the things. I know for certain that i would enjoy a couple of reasonable jokes. and as someone else said a joke could display better understanding of the topic

[uəʌəsʎɐɾ]

Well on a similar note; on my application form, under "biggest achievement?" I put "I once came 2nd in a beauty-prize contest on monopoly", when asked "why do you want to work at this store?", I put "Because my girlfriend moved halfway accross the country and I would very much like to be able to afford to see her from time to time. Also I look quite good in red". I like to think that it made my application more personal and made it stand out from the typical stuff that the other 186 applicants wrote down.

Did I mention I got the job?

[Ashley]

I don't use "I" or "me" or any similar pronoun in my essays any more, was ironed out of me. If I wan't to give an opinion I'd say something like "It is clear that..." blah blah bitty blah.

Anyway, I may make sarcastic comments or something in an essay if its just a general "Hey you've learnt about ... now right an essay on it!" essay, but I never did for my coursework pieces. Although my media coursework did include jokes but they were quotes. Joke quotes if you may.

[Haver]

My personal statement consists of my best jokes only.

[kopo]

Do it sometimes. Mostly jokes only i will ever understand, sometimes jokes all can get. Don't overdo it, subtelty is key here.

[Charlie]

If it's a personal reflective essay jokes/humour is good.
Discursive - no
Critical - no

That's what we were told. I don't put jokes in any, but only because of the fact that I can't make a decent joke.

[Raining_again]

If it's a personal reflective essay jokes/humour is good.
Discursive - no
Critical - no

That's what we were told. I don't put jokes in any, but only because of the fact that I can't make a decent joke.

yeah, nobody gets my jokes :(

i just leave it to serious generally. if you are good at making jokes, you should as long as they arent offensive and your essay isnt composed of only jokes. i think that wouldn't go down too well :heh:

[Ashley]

My personal statement consists of my best jokes only.

Personal statements are a joke anyway, uselessness.

[#1cubeplayer]

I once made a joke in an essay about nutrition where I called the school food crap. The teacher pointed it out when he was talking about the biggest mistakes we made. :)

[Marshmellow]

writing in a joking format is very fun

[Librarian]

yes i used to do it all the time. But you have to be carefull, because if it's an important essay and the guy who have to judge it is a ****.. your screwd.. on the other hand I have also gotten positiv response on doing it.. if there is one thing i can't stand it's people taking themselves to serious.. i hope it will never happen to me

[Shorty]

Personal statements are a joke anyway, uselessness.

Not necessarily, in certain circumstances it can be the difference between a definate and a conditional.

[Ashley]

Not necessarily, in certain circumstances it can be the difference between a definate and a conditional.

You sound like a teacher :P

And not necessarily, Warwick bumped me up to definate after I put them as my insurance rather than firm.

[Blackfox]

Personal statements are a joke anyway, uselessness.

For medicine, dentistry, Oxbridge apps. and vetinary courses they make all the difference. Afterall, what else is there to distinguish between kids who can all gain AAA at A-Level?

[darkcloud]

Jokes, jokes, jokes........... Hmmm, well from my experience the won't mark you down for it, but, they also won't give you bonus marks for it.......... You see, they have a certain marking scheme, for every point on this list you fulfil they give you 1 mark...... Every mark you get brings you closer to that grade you want........... I'm pretty sure they don't have a jokes section. :-/

Oh and unless stated you shouldn't get marked down for using them...... Oh and I would watch out with that joke you are thinking of using, you might just get an old lady marking your work and they could take offence meaning they might not treat you fairly. :(

[Mr_Odwin]

I've done some marking of second year uni students work and it is unbelievably boring, so funny things were always welcome. I didn't mark them down, or up, for it but it made my life nicer.

[Tom]

i like to put jokes in my work - i once did a history essay on custers last stand in the style of 'through the keyhole' and got a very good mark :)