<p>Considering that its going to be adults reading these essays, should we steer clear of the realm of pop-culture? I'm not thinking of turning in something along the lines of "How Green Day Shaped my Ambitions," but would it be OK to allude to something to help clarify a point? Would a reader look it up if they were confused or just dismiss it as babble?</p>
<p>I’m also interested, what if I brought up Jersey Shore in my essay somewhere, would they know what that is lol?</p>
<p>Bumppppppppp</p>
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<p>I think you should be confident that the majority of readers will understand the reference. Even if they do look it up to clarify, that takes away from your writing. They read thousands of essays; no one wants to take the extra time to try to understand a confusing essay. I’m sure you can come up with a reference that most people will get.</p>
<p>haha its just kind of specific. its about gallagher the watermelon smashing guy. its more of a joke than a reference and it just sort of alludes to it</p>
<p>i’m a pop culture junkie and i have the same question…i think if the reference is done in a way that doesn’t make the reader feel like “haha you don’t know what I’m talking about” it should be fine. just don’t overdo it…but if pop culture is who you are (like in my case) don’t sacrifice that!</p>