Impessoalidade na composição da tese e da argumentação: uma análise descritiva em corpus de redações estilo ENEM

Abstract

This study aims to investigate impersonality in the formation of thesis and argumentation in a corpus of essays from the Enem Style (National High School Examination). Through a descriptive analysis, the study examines the relationship between words as facts in the composition of opinions, propositions - referred to as the thesis - and their possible impersonality in this construction. It is considered relevant to take a position in the text withoutnecessarily using the first-person singular, as its occurrence in certain contexts conditions a recurring feature of other discursive genres, such as the Opinion Article. Additionally, the research explores the relationship of terms like "should" and "necessary" with the production of argumentation in this type of writing. In an educational context, this research justifies itself by attempting to explore words that guide writing closer to what is considered the maximum score in the exam, i.e., a score of 1000. To achieve this, a vast corpus of essays compiled during undergraduate and postgraduate was utilized the WordSmith Tools software (Scott, 2012) was employed for a qualitative-quantitative analysis of these texts. The preliminary observation reveals that in most texts, not only in the introduction of the Enem Style argumentative dissertation but also in the presentation of the argumentation and conclusion, an opinion is present along with a fact in the exposition of the thesis. However, the word does not necessarily present a fact in all contexts, whether scientific, historical, political, or ideological. At times, the analysis shows that the lexical item only reinforces a previously explained idea or is used as a basis for proposing a solution to the involved issue. Regarding the issue of impersonality in the text, it was not identified in any part of the analyzed corpus that the thesis was written inthe first person singular or plural. However, this does not mean that the candidate's essay wouldbe disqualified for its use in the university admission process. Still, it can be asserted that thereare no top-scoring essays with this writing profile, i.e., with the development of the thesis in thefirst person, especially in the singular. Finally, guided by theorists such as Pécora (1992), Berber Sardinha (2009), Halliday and Hasan (1976), Koch (1994/2002/2008), Bakhtin (2003), and documents like BNCC (2023) and Participant's Guide (2022 and 2023), which present specific correction guidelines and criteria for students' participation in the exam, this work reinforces the idea that it is possible to construct an excellentthesis that is impersonal but partial. It presents linguistic elements such as a fact used in phraseslike "it is a fact that" or "with this fact" and well-formulated argumentation with the constant presence of "should" and "necessary," combined in constructions like "it should be due to the fact" or "it is necessary."