Can you fabricate lies in context?

[nacho]

Suppose you are writing an opinionative article Published in like the herald sun or the age or some fictional magazine;
is it acceptable to say something like : " in his autobiography ; George bush heard voices at night telling him to...."
or is that frowned upn because it is not real evidence, and may kill ur form?

[Panicmode]

Interesting idea. I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea. Especially if you're writing an expository/persuasive/formal essay. I honestly think it would detract from your mark. However, I am not a VCAA English assessor so what do I know eh?

[chrisjb]

If it's a good enough lie and you don't make up something so incredibly ludicrous that any rational human being would know it's false then you should be fine. This thread actually reminds me of a statistic I saw quoted in the Age the other week that 68% of college graduates admitted to fabricating statistics or facts on term papers.

[Anon123]

I think that kills it tbh

You should either
1.) Start real, and stay real
2.) Start fake, and do whatever you want

I don't see why you would need to make up stuff, there are so many external options available

[tullfrog]

I wouldn't say that making up evidence is wrong in itself, it all depends upon what you're making up. In my context piece I'm inventing a new movement in continental philosophy called fantasticism; my teachers says that's okay. However, if you make a passing reference to something that the examiner is going to see and be like, "yeah right...." then that's definitely going to detract from your essay.

[geoftw]

You can say- George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq.' It's a fact, he actually said that. (awkward... i know.)

[tullfrog]

Yeah, definitely talk about divine inspiration rather than "voices in the night", it makes it more ambiguous as to whether you think he's batshit crazy or not.

[jinny1]

haha i made up fake quuotes lol hope the examiner  doesnt notice

[MaddehZ]

haha i made up fake quuotes lol hope the examiner  doesnt notice

lool i made up a book that i referenced bahaha