Novice guide for debate - McKinney High School Debate



Novice Guide for Debate

There are many intricate parts to a debate round. Sometimes even if you know what everything is according to their terms, you may not completely grasp the idea of debate. My suggestion would be to either watch a debate round, or to actually try and perform it. I will break the parts of a debate round down as you would in the order that you hear the debate. A glossary of debate terms for Lincoln-Douglas debate will be included at the back of this guide.

A flow chart is when you take down all of the arguments that your opponent has said. It is often referred as a flow as well. It allows the ability to follow a debate round with preciseness. You will use your flow to put the case, arguments for and against, ideas, philosophy and evidence in order.

Def.

Freedom- to not be controlled

Morality- what is right

America- region of the world where democracy is paramount

Democracy- allowing for equal rights where majority rules is paramount

Freedom

Utlitarianism

America is the only place where democracy can rule

democracy allows for freedom

1) freedom allows for utilitarianism

Democracy allows for majority rule

1) majoirty rules is basis for utility

2) democracy allows for equal voting

Value- the value will allow for what has meaning within a debate round. Often when I ask debaters who are not familiar with a value, they often refer to a value that has a materialistic value. My suggestion to my students is that they think of something that they cannot touch, hear, taste, see, or smell. A value is something that has meaning to a person. A good example of a value used in debate would be freedom. Although you know what freedom is, you cannot verify that it is truly real. Instead it has a meaning that you as a person values. The value is the crux of your case. In other words it is the foundation. You must make sure that your value is strong because if you were to build a house without a solid foundation, then your house would fall apart very quickly. Not only is the value the most important building block to your case, it is the thing that will tie your whole case together and link it directly to the resolutional topic. The value should also be referenced while you are talking about your criteria and contentions within your debate case. This is called crystallization of your case. When you have crystallization, there are no questions to be had in your case and it is airtight. Examples of values will be included in further detail in the glossary.

Criteria- the criterion is how the round should be judged. Think of the scales of justice and how there is a balance that will decide on who wins the round. This goes for the affirmative and negative sides of the resolution and how the judge will see and decide who better upholds the debate round with their argumentation. The criteria will support your value. The criteria tells the judge how you would like for your value to be judged.

The next phase of a debate case is the definitions. Definitions are used to clarify the case. The affirmative has a partial right to set up the clarification of the round. You want to define what is in your resolution. Remember that the resolution is the topic, which you are discussing. The definitions can come from any source, but they need to be credible. For example, a definition from Blacks law dictionary is going to be more reliable and better than one that you may have researched and got out of the Enquirer. If I were the affirmative, I would define all terms within the resolution. If you are the negative giving definitions that are the same as the affirmative, then you need to ask yourself…why am I giving these same definitions? There must be a reason for the negative to give a definition if it clashes with the affirmatives definitions. Example: “The affirmative has the definition of morality which is defined by doing what is right. Because I feel that it is too broad of a definition I offer you a counter definition of morality which is more defined from Webster’s……”. There must be a reason for the negative if the affirmative has already offered that definition.

Contentions and sub points follow the criteria. The contention is the main point of your argument. It is a statement of fact that is often combined with philosophy, fact, opinion, and evidence. Your contention should interact as the topic sentence would in an essay. Think of the contentions as a whole as the body in an essay. There also need to be at least one piece of evidence to support your idea and theory…never more than two pieces though. If you were an affirmative, I would suggest that you have 2-3 contentions supporting your case. If you are taking the negative stance, then you want to have two contentions and that is a firm structure.

The structure for placing your contention is that of an essay body as well. Put the 2nd to the best contention first, the worst contention in the middle and save the best for last. Why save the best for last? It’s because you want to have a strong hold in the judge’s mind by having the strongest argumentative contention last.

Cross-examination is a period of question and answer. There is a format that one must follow in order to be successful in cross-examination. It is more commonly called C-X. You only have three minutes to ask your question, and to receive what you want to hear. The first step is to make sure that you have everything down on your flow pad. Clarify the case. Make sure that you have heard and flowed all of the contentions correctly along with your value, criteria, and any definitions in question.. Nothing would be worse than if you didn’t get the contentions down right the first time and then realized in the middle of the round that the affirmative and negative are arguing two different concepts. Once you have clarified the case structure, you may proceed to ask questions concerning the opponent’s case. Make sure that you don’t make a statement in cross-examination, only questions or answers determined by which side of cross-examination you are participating in. Try to ask questions that can be answered shortly. This is your cross-examination time if you are asking questions and sometimes your opponent will try to ramble on about a question in order to dwindle down your time. If your opponent tries to ramble, say “thank-you” to nicely get them to stop talking and then proceed to your next question. The positioning for C-X should be that you stand and look straightforward, either at your paper, the judge, or the wall. Never look at your opponent. Tensions are already running high, and if you look at your opponent then it will look unprofessional and altercations of emotions can rise fast.

Rebuttals need to be organized in the fashion that nothing is left untouched. Never skip anything on a flow. Two things must happen in a rebuttal; first you should attack you opponents case by saying for example, “on their value of equality, I feel that I will better provide for equality by giving a basis for morality. The basis for my opponent using equality is clearly shown as being faulty when you consider moral societal issues.” The other part of your rebuttal is to then move on and rebuild your case from the attacks that you opponent made. For example; “I have a value of freedom. My opponent said that I would not be able to reach freedom by regulating the way that the United Nations conducted meetings. That is not true because by giving the United Nations more procedures to follow, they will be more productive in finding ways to help people achieve freedom.” This should be as short as possible without being too short. Make sure that you get your point across and make your argument have some reasoning and validity. Remember that you have limited time to attack and rebuild so let’s say that if you have 4 minutes in your speech, you should split up your time into 2 minutes for attacking your opponents case and 2 minutes for rebuilding your own case.

On your last rebuttal, do not forget to include voters. Voters are reasons why you should win the case. Have about 3-5 reasons why you think that you should win the case. In the last affirmative rebuttal, you shouldn’t try to go for the gold by attacking all of the arguments. Instead you should tell the judge that because of limited time you will crystallize all the arguments and then provide some voters at the end. This will allow for the affirmative to have time to make generic argument, tell why they think they won the case (voters), and to end with a quote if possible. The main focus on rebuttals is to manage your time efficiently. Don’t focus on the bad, instead focus on the good concerning your own case.

The way that you present yourself is very important in a debate round. If you were to show up in baggy jeans and a nose ring, you would not look very professional. Instead dress properly such as slacks, tie, dress, business suit/dress. Whatever makes you comfortable…just be professional. Try to know your case well, eye contact with the judge is a big winner. Who want to sit and listen to you read? You must provide gestures that emphasize you case, not distract from it. Try not to say uh, or umm too much. Be clear and precise. The more educated you sound, the more believable you will be.

The times for this debate are as follows:

1st AFF Constructive 3 minutes

NEG C-X 3 minutes

1st NEG Constructive 5 minutes

AFF C-X 3 minutes

1st AFF Rebuttal 2 minutes

1st NEG Rebuttal 3 minutes

2nd AFF Rebuttal 1 minute

You will have 3 minutes of prep time allowed.

Example Values

Civilization – a society that has reached a measurable amount of development.

Dignity – justifiable pride.

Freedom – to be free without restraint. Can apply to numerous philosophies and scenarios.

Humanity – Ethics and morality which makes us different from other things in mankind.

Individualism – to value the individual person and what they may accomplish or produce.

Justice – uphold what is right or true

Life – values for the quality of life in general.

Morality – using right and wrong to make ethical decisions.

Potential – the good or bad that something can be done.

Preservation of life – to preserve life

Quality of life – to give and maintain a quality/value to life

Quality of the future – ensuring that the future will be beneficial

Social Contract – society will provide for the people

Status Quo – the way that things currently stand in society

Uniqueness – the ability to be original

Utility – being useful for society

Utilitarianism – greatest good for the greatest number of people

Glossary

Affirmative – propose to change the way that things currently are.

Analogy – reasoning that uses comparisons. These can be literal or figurative.

Argument – using evidence to create some type of a conclusion.

Brief – set of prepared arguments. Can also be called the case.

Burden of proof – Aff must show that there is a need to change in order to win the round.

Contention – stance on an issue. It is a fact/opinion supported by evidence. Like a body paragraph in an essay.

Criteria – what the judge uses to weigh and decide the round.

Cross-Examination (also known as C-X) – period where one opponent asks the other questions to clarify case structure and case issues.

Debate – contest of spoken argumentation that involves philosophy, opinion, fact, & evidence.

Deductive reasoning – starting from the general and becoming more specific within the case structure.

Dropped argument – an argument that is not refuted or rebuilt.

Evidence – information that is found from various credible sources.

Fallacy – part of propaganda that begins with faulty reasoning.

Flow – chart used to take down value criteria, contentions, and arguments made.

Harm – problem with society standards, which call for a change.

Hasty generalizations – type of propaganda. It gives too few of examples and reaches a conclusion that is faulty. Can also be formed from wrong examples.

Inductive reasoning – starting from the specific and moving toward the general with case ideals and structure.

Lincoln-Douglas debate – a value debate. Named after presidential hopeful debate against Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas.

Negative – is against changing the way that things currently are

Oral critique – the judge will sometimes speak after the round to give tips, comments and suggestions concerning the round that just took place.

Prep or preparation time – time allowed to check your flow, make rebuttal and refutations while writing thoughts on the flow.

Roadmap – telling your opponent and judge where you are going with argumentation before you start your speech. For example, “I will first attack the negative and then rebuild the affirmative case.

Sign posting – numbering and lettering your speech in an outline format during your speech.

Value – something that has meaning. A value can be good, bad, right or wrong.

Voters – used as an issue to be the reasons why you should win the round

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