I just reread the essay I wrote for last May's SAT. I decided at an early stage that I was going to use fake examples. One of them was about Tom Sanders, a fictional janitor who was able to greatly improve his work ability after being encouraged. The rather amusing part is that it actually worked; my score didn't seem hurt at all by the obviously fake examples.

(Also, I just realized how awful my handwriting was. I'm surprised they were even able to read it.)