<p>Cardinal Fang, remember that fiction uses metaphors. In the case of Pinocchio, each time his nose grew, the problems he caused himself by lying grew. The story of Pinnocchio is not about your nose growing because you lie, but about how the problems you create for yourself by lying build upon each other until they are out of your control. It is the story of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon, and is echoed in the story of MacBeth.</p>
<p>You don’t use fiction to support truth by taking the fiction at face value and treating it as if it were fact. You use fiction to support truth by looking at fiction on a thematic level, where the truth is.</p>
<p>The SAT essay rewards critical thinking and ability to see beyond the surface. It rewards an ability to make connections between works of fiction and events in history. And conversely, if you read fiction and are unable recognize what the story is really about, then an essay question like this will reveal that instead.</p>