“The proliferation of rumors (...) and the way in which feed of news works were decisive for false information to have reach and legitimacy”. This excerpt, taken from an article published by the Nexo website in 2016, was one of the supporting texts that the 13.712 candidates who took the first day tests of the second phase of the Unicamp 2018 Entrance Exam should use to prepare their essays.
This Sunday (14/1) Unicamp administered the Writing and Portuguese Language and Literature tests in 17 cities in São Paulo and in the capitals Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Fortaleza. In the Writing test, students were asked to write a text for a lecture, to be read aloud, and an opinion article. The theme of the lecture was an explanation about post-truth and its relationship with social networks and the consequences that the dissemination of so-called fake news (fake news) can bring to society. The theme came from oxford dictionaries, which defined “post-truth” as the word of the year for 2016.
In addition to the excerpt mentioned above, the set of texts for preparing the essays brought testimonials with different opinions on the topics, from a STF minister, to a journalist, activist and singer, among others.
For Comvest's executive coordinator, José Alves de Freitas Neto, Unicamp maintains the tradition of a Writing test that demands candidates' positioning on relevant and current issues in society. “What we want with this is that candidates have the opportunity to develop a critical vision and know how to discern information and positions and their use both for scientific, cultural and technological knowledge, and for their actions as citizens”, stated Freitas.
Regarding the Portuguese Language and Portuguese Language Literature test, Comvest's academic coordinator, Márcia Mendonça, highlighted that Unicamp seeks students who are critical readers and highlighted that just reading the summary of the works charged is no use. “The idea of the Literature test is to explore the candidates’ literary background,” she said.
The Unicamp Permanent Entrance Exam Committee (Comvest) registered a 11,3% abstention. Last year, abstention was 10% and in 2016, 13,2%. This year, of the 15.461 approved for the second phase, 1.749 did not attend. In Campinas abstention was 9% and in São Paulo it was 11,6%.
The tests are available on the Comvest website (www.comvest.unicamp.br). The expected answers for the second phase tests will be published on the internet from Wednesday (17/1). This Monday, January 15th, candidates will take the Geography, History and Mathematics and Geography tests. On Tuesday it is time for the Biology, Chemistry and Physics tests.
This year, 76.225 candidates took the first phase test, competing for one of the 3.340 places in 70 undergraduate courses at Unicamp.
