I have to write a 4ish page paper on Interpersonal Communication. I was thinking about trying to write it in a humorous way. Rather, I will attempt to humorous. The assignment sheet clearly does not say it has to be funny, but it doesn’t say it can’t be either. As a Teacher/Professor, would this annoy you? I’m worried that it might be seen as me not taking the assignment seriously. Anyone ever try this and have a good outcome? Thanks in advance.
I had to write an essay on some aspect of the school expirience for English for my formative start at high school; It didn’t count for anything important (it was just to be put in my file as a sort of reference) so I thought I might as well have some fun and wrote about how schooling was a waste of time because the government was clearly just getting us to do constant work in order to drain us of all initiative, in order that we became their slaves and work in their hidden underground tie mines - because, as everyone knows, their mind controlling powers are focused in their ties. The old tradition of “peanutting” is thus the way of making sure that none of your friends are traitorous spies; peanutting a government agent will cause pain on the level of kicking them in the nadgers.
The teacher said it was very funny ( woo! ) but also “You do realise, however, that I can’t put this in your file”. So I had to write another essay :(.
On the plus side, the original one got stuck up on the wall down one corridor. It made some of the little kids (in the next-door junior high) cry! 
Basically; feel free to write an amusing one, but expect to be told to do it again.
I think it would depend on the nature of the class, the exact question and what level of schooling we are talking about.
I second the caveat about the nature of the class, &c.
That said, if the paper is done well, then you get leeway; if the paper isn’t done well, then you are hurting yourself.
You don’t say for what level this will be written, what the class is like, what the instructor is like, if he or she seems to have a sense of humor or the age of the instructor.
But with the amount of information you have given I would suggest you take the serious road.
My experience teaching is that what my students consider humorous does not generally fall within my view of humor. Humor can be very age and experience specific (how else can you explain Tom Green and Adam Sandler) and unless you have shared similar experiences and are roughly of the same age, the humorous aspects of the paper will fall on deaf ears.
Your instructor could well be very offended by your paper feeling you are mocking the subject he has dedicated his life to studying.
As I remember one time Mark Twain tried to do a humorous presentation to serious scholars and it fell flat and it was years before he was accepted into the circles that he was hoping for earlier.
I grade papers on the same criteria whether they are humorous or not.
Take a close look at the assignment, be sure to do everything that is required. Also be certain that the paper is well organized and clear. You should have a thesis statement, paragraphs with topic sentences, and all that jazz, cite your sources properly, etc.
If you do these things, I’ll give you a decent grade even if the humor falls flat. Hell, I might even give you a little bump for trying to be creative if I’m feeling particularly weary about having to wade through a pile of cookie-cutter essays.
However, do not try to substitute humor for content. Make sure you have a point and you support the point using facts and clear logic. If you don’t, I don’t care if your writing is funny, you’ll get the same grade as the next semiliterate keypuncher.
And be extra careful that there’s absolutely nothing that could be construed as offensive. Gender-based jokes, for example, are right out.
Just MHO. You could always ask your instructor whether they would be open to a humorous take on the subject.
It’s all well and good to say this, but the reality is that Burrido might score higher for being funny even if it isn’t well-supported. I supervise people who are supposed to objectively score essays based on certain criteria. Inevitably, the humors papers score higher across the board (instead of just for Voice, which is the only category humor raising a score is justified) than ones that are less entertaining. One thing we try to drill into scorer’s heads is you can’t give it a high score just because it amused you if it lacks substance; it’s so tempting to, though. This come up over and over because people do it anyway. And a good percentage of scorers are former teachers.
True enough. I think it’s just human nature that our brains are more engaged by writing that invokes emotion, be it fear, or sadness, or humor.
Damnit, I meant evoke, not invoke.
Thank you for the replys. This paper is college level. My instructor has her doctorate in Interpersonal Communications. She is in her mid 30s(?) and seems to be pretty normal. Doesn’t try to be funny, but makes an effort for the class to be exciting. I’ve written two versions of the paper and am still deciding. Lucky for me I still have several days before I have to turn it in. I guess what I was aiming for was to be different and maybe gain a higher score.