including facts in an essay establishes fallacy, sets the time period, represents status, or gains credibility?

gains credibility

Explanation:

When an essay includes events that actually happened, it makes the scenario being described seem more likely to be true thereby giving it an extra measure of credibility because the stories can be related to actual events.

If one just makes up facts that cannot be related to the real world however, the scenario becomes more fictitious in the eyes of a reader and might even be declared a fallacious.

the reason some people sacrifice their own life for another person's life could be that they are in love with them and would do anything to keep them safe a protected even if that means risking their life in the process

you should ask "yourself is it good enough? "