Dear Seian: Your mention of getting some credit for humor on an exam question reminds me of Bob Benchley, a well known humorist in the 30's. At Harvard he took a course that he thought would be a snap, but because he hardly cracked a book, he was totally at a loss when exam had a question about a controversial fishing treaty.
So his answer began: "Much has been said about the views of the fishermen involved. I propose to discuss it from the viewpoint of the fish........"