Lincoln Douglas Debate Textbook

© National Speech & Debate Association
LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE
Dr. Seth Halvorson & Cherian Koshy

Dr. Seth Halvorson & Cherian Koshy
© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION

Copyright © 2013 by the National Speech & Debate Association All rights reserved.
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Contents
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
About This Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Unit 1: Introduction to LD Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01
Unit 2: How do I write a case? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09

Unit 3: During the debate round . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Unit 4: Refutation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Unit 5: Rebuttal Speeches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Unit 6: Go with the flow: taking notes and tracking arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Unit 7: Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Unit 8: Sample Affirmative Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Unit 9: Sample Negative Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Unit 10: The Debate Round: A Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Unit 11: Practice suggestions and drills for debaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
APPENDIX A: Glossary of commonly used debate terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

APPENDIX B: Common flowing abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
APPENDIX C: Case writing exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
APPENDIX D: Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
DR. SETH HALVORSON Ph.D., Columbia University (NY)
CHERIAN KOSHY, National Speech & Debate Association; formerly of Apple Valley HS (MN)
Dr. Halvorson and Mr. Koshy both debated for Apple Valley High School in Minnesota during
the 1990s and were the two Minnesota State Champions from Apple Valley during that decade.
Over the course of the last 15 years, both Dr. Halvorson and Mr. Koshy have spent summers
traveling the country, teaching students about Lincoln-Douglas debate. Each summer, they work
with hundreds of students who are interested in developing their skills and learning about LD
debate. They also coach teams throughout the year, and the students they have coached have
been immensely successful on the local, state, regional, and national levels, including impressive
finishes at the Tournament of Champions and National Speech & Debate Tournament. Over the
course of the last 15 years, they have taught thousands of students how to debate, including many
current coaches and judges in the activity. In 2006, after spending several summers together, they
designed a series of instructional materials they believe will be useful for students, coaches, par-
ents, and judges new to the activity of competitive debate. In 2008, the second edition of the text
was published including updated material and information.
iv LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

ABOUT THIS TEXT
T
his text runs in tandem with a number of resources to teach you the ins and
outs of Lincoln-Douglas debate as well as debate generally. We have created
a classroom edition of this textbook to use as a modified format for in-class
debates as well as a full curriculum to teach various debate forms with assessments,
rubrics, lesson plans, and activities.
We acknowledge that there is no right way to debate and also that many different styles of de-
bate exist. At the same time, we believe that a primer is necessary to provide new students, coach-
es, teams, and judges with an understanding of how debate works. We hope that this will serve a
starting point for your investigation into the world of debate but that you don’t limit yourself to
this text. As such, please do not consider this a rulebook for LD debate. Instead, this represents a
wide variety of views that encapsulates most community norms about debate from current debat-
ers, coaches, and judges. This text is designed for students who are entirely new to the activity and
serves as a reference for students with limited competitive debate experience. In future editions
and texts, students will learn how to transition to advanced debating.
In addition, if you are new to the activity, we hope that you will take advantage of the appendix
material to start exploring the world of debate. To start your search, we suggest that you contact
the National Speech & Debate Association (www.speechanddebate.org), which is the national
organization that administers the activity. They can provide you with contact information in your
state for debate coaches and tournaments that are happy to answer questions and assist you. Every
state in the nation has an NFL district, and in some cases several, so rest assured that wherever
you are, you will find opportunities to debate. There is also a state organization that governs high
school debate. Try asking your principal if they know how you can start attending tournaments.
We would also be happy to help you get started in the activity and can try to put you in touch with
someone we know in your area that could help. If you have questions, please email us.
© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

v
UNIT 1
Introduction to LD Debate
W
elcome to the wonderful world of debate! While debate may seem compli-
cated and overwhelming at first, try to remember that everyone feels that
way when starting any new activity. No one is a naturally gifted football
player, or knows the rules of chess when they first sit down at the board. Rest assured
that after reading the following pages you will have the tools necessary to succeed
at this activity, which we believe is both academically and intellectually rewarding as
well as a whole bunch of fun!
WHAT IS DEBATE? petitive speaking activity that involves two de-
baters arguing for and against a resolution that

Debate, and specifically, Lincoln-Douglas de-
bate, commonly referred to as LD, is a com- is selected by the National Speech & Debate

01
Association. LD topics change bi-monthly regardless of whether elimination rounds are
beginning with the September-October topic. held. Many tournaments award trophies for
Members of the Association vote in advance the best speakers as well as those who won the
for the resolutions they would like to debate most debates.
in the upcoming year. Each resolution is de- Since we’ve all seen football games and
fended by one person, the affirmative, and re- chess matches, we have a reasonable idea of
jected by another person, the negative. Each what happens in a match or competition.
debater is responsible for advocating for his or When it comes to debate, it’s a little less clear.
her side of the resolution in front of a judge, The following analogy will clarify everything
who decides which side of the resolution they you need to know about debate and should
will vote for based on the arguments present-
give you a sense of how to begin preparing for
ed in the debate round.
your first competition.
In any competitive debate situation, the
HOW DOES DEBATE WORK? most important concept is forced choice. This
means that the judge is required to select be-
In each round of competition, one debater
tween two mutually exclusive propositions.
is assigned the affirmative position and anoth-
For example, when you’re standing in front of
er debater is assigned the negative. Through-
a vending machine, you are forced to choose
out the course of any tournament, you can
between buying a soda and keeping your dol-
expect to debate both the affirmative and neg-
lar. You can only choose one of those options;
ative many times. In each round, you will be
you cannot select both of the options nor can
assigned a room, an opponent, and a judge.
you select neither option. In the same way, all
When you arrive at the room, you will be ex-
debate resolutions present forced choices to
pected to present a case defending your side of
the resolution and to answer arguments made debaters that they must argue. For example,
by your opponent. Based on the strength of in the resolution, Resolved: civil disobedience
your arguments, you will be awarded with ei- in a democracy is morally justified, the affir-
ther a win or a loss. At some tournaments, the mative is required to prove that civil disobedi-
cumulative wins and losses will enable you to ence is the right thing to do while the negative
participate in elimination rounds such a quar- is required to prove that civil disobedience
terfinal, semifinal, and a final round debate. is not the right thing to do. In most circum-
Typically, the tournament champion is deter- stances, you can mentally add the word “not”
mined by the person with the greatest num- into the resolution to get a better idea of what
ber of wins and fewest losses at a tournament the negative is required to defend.
02 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

BURDENS is a statement of value, there is no
presumption towards either side.
No question of values can be determined
entirely true or false. This is why the resolution • Burden of clash: Each debater has an
is debatable. Therefore neither debater should equal burden to clash with his/her
be held to a standard of absolute proof. No opponent’s position. Neither debater
debater can realistically be expected to prove should be rewarded for presenting a
complete validity or invalidity of the resolu- speech completely unrelated to the
tion. The better debater is the one who, on the arguments of his/her opponent.
whole, proves his/her side of the resolution • Resolutional burden: The debaters
more valid as a general principle. are equally obligated to focus the
• Burden of proof: Each debater has debate on the central questions of the
the equal burden to prove the validity resolution, not whether the resolution
of his/her side of the resolution as a itself is worthy of debate. Because the
general principle. As an LD resolution affirmative must uphold the resolution,

03
the negative must also argue the NCAA Championship is the most important
resolution as presented. for Division I teams.
Additionally, specific elements of argu-
ments or case positions may create further
burdens for a particular debater. If one de- FINAL FOUR
bater places a burden on himself or herself, it
must be met in order to win the debate. If one Figure 1.1
debater places a burden on another, it must
either be met or the debater must argue, and The next question to ask yourself as a bas-
win, why they do not need to meet the burden ketball coach is how will you achieve that
to win the debate. goal? What will ensure that you make it to the
NCAA Final Four? While there are many fac-
The Basketball Analogy tors that influence whether a team will make
To illustrate the notion of forced choice, it through the grueling tournament, includ-
let’s investigate a non-debate example. Assume ing coaching, strategies, and training (not to
for a moment that you are a college basketball mention a little bit of luck and prayer), the
coach and you have two groups of people in most basic way to get to the Final Four is to
your gym that have come out for the team. On outscore your opponents in each of the games
one side of the gym, you have a group of very you play. If you score more points than your
tall players though they also happen to be very opponent, you will always win the game and
slow (think Yao Ming). On the other side of advance to the next round.
the gym, you have a group of short players that
are also very fast (think Earl Boykins). You are
required to select one group or the other to FINAL FOUR
play for your team so that you will have a team
entirely comprised of tall and slow players or a
team entirely comprised of short and fast play-
ers. How would you make your decision? Score More Points
The first question to ask yourself is what is
your goal as the college’s basketball coach? For Figure 1.2
most college programs, their goal is to reach
the NCAA Final Four and the collegiate na- Now, as a coach, your question should be:
tional championship. While there may be oth- which team (either tall/slow or short/fast)
er important tournaments and rivalries, the will be more successful at scoring points and

FINAL FOUR
Score More Points
Offense
3 Point Shot
Offense
Offense
Figure 1.3
therefore reach the Final Four? In any bas- analogy, the free throw shot is an unguarded
ketball game, there are both offensive ways shot so it’s likely that both teams would be
to score points and defensive ways to prevent equally good if they practiced their free throw.
your opponent from scoring points. The tall/slow team is probably more adept
There are three offensive ways to score at the 2-point shot because they are closer to
points: the 3-point shot (anything outside the the hoop and are more apt to muscle people
arc), the 2-point shot (the field goal, anything around in close quarters. The short/fast team
inside the arc), and the 1-point shot (the free is probably better adept at the 3-point shot
throw). Each type of player (tall/slow or short/ because they are able to get open more quickly
fast) is likely to be more adept at each partic- and thus more often. Each team has advantag-
ular shot. For example and for the sake of the es and each team has disadvantages.

05
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? scoring points in any basketball game: stealing
You might argue that because the short/fast the ball, blocking a shot, and rebounding the
team is scoring shots of higher value (the 3-point ball. As was the case before, we could sug-
shot) that we should select them. However, the gest that each group (tall/slow or short/fast)
tall/slow players might respond that the 3-point might be more or less adept at each. Here the
shot is a less likely shot in basketball (typical- comparison is a little bit easier. Undoubted-
ly fewer than 30% of the shots in any game), so ly, the short but fast players would be more
while the short/fast people are making shots of skillful at stealing the ball. Imagine a five-foot
higher value, the tall/slow team is making more five tall player like Boykins simply grabbing a
shots of lesser value. ball from a seven-foot six player whose drib-
This is what’s known as weighing. ble is about four feet from the floor. The tall
Complicating our discussion are the defen- and slow players would be unlikely to steal the
sive aspects of the game. There are three de- ball because they could not reach down as far.
fensive ways to prevent your opponents from Likewise, the tall players would have an easy
FINAL FOUR
Score More Points
Offense Defense
3 Point Shot Steals
Offense Blocked Shots
Offense Rebounds
Figure 1.4

time blocking the shots of the shorter play- persuade a judge that your position is the cor-
ers. In the case of rebounds, both sides may rect one. In this example, you should be able
be more or less adept at offensive and defen- to make several arguments to defend the tall/
sive rebounds so we might surmise that both slow team and several arguments to defend the
groups are equal in this regard. short/fast team. Try it out! You can include
As a college basketball coach, we’ve received both offensive reasons they would succeed and
a lot of information about both sides of our defensive reasons why they would succeed.
players. Some are more adept at some offensive Since very few of us will be basketball
and defensive skills while others are adept at coaches, it’s important to see how this relates
other skills. Which team should we select? to LD debate. Compare Figure 1.4 to Figure
You shouldn’t have an easy answer; that’s 1.5. This should give you an idea of what a
why we debate! There are good arguments value premise (the goal) and a criterion (the
for each side and those arguments can be method of achieving that goal) are and how
compared with the opposing arguments to the arguments relate to those concepts.
VALUE PREMISE
Criterion
Offense Arguments Defense Arguments
Argument #1 Argument #4
Figure 1.5

07
UNIT 2
How do I write a case?
E
veryone has written a paper for English class that follows the five-part model:
introduction, first main point, second main point, third main point, and conclu-
sion. A debate case is very similar. In your introduction, you’ll want to use an
attention getter (usually a quotation or story related to the resolution) and then state
the resolution exactly how it is worded. Often, people will use the phrase “I affirm
the resolution, Resolved: civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified,” or
“I negate the resolution, “Resolved: civil disobedience in a democracy is morally
justified.” Notice that you don’t change the resolution when you negate, you simply
change your viewpoint. In your introduction, you’ll also want to define the terms of
the resolution. Take a look at what words or phrases in the resolution might need
some clarification. You and your opponent should be debating the same thing. So
take a look through some dictionaries and define the words or phrases that are most

09
important. In this resolution, “civil disobedience” should be defined as a phrase and
“morally justified” should be defined as a phrase. If you defined the terms “civil” and
“disobedience” separately, you wouldn’t end up with a good understanding of civil
disobedience. Don’t define any terms that aren’t in the resolution. Definitions should
be fair and as objective as possible. Negatives are permitted to counter-define, or
offer definitions as well. However, they must provide a rationale for why the count-
er-definition is preferable.
Also in your introduction, you’ll want to rality since the resolution questions whether
state your value premise and criterion, what civil disobedience can be justified on moral
they mean, and why you selected them as they grounds. Democracies trust individuals to
relate to the resolution. In our civil disobedi- make moral decisions so the criterion for mo-
ence example, you might say: rality is individual conscience.
“The highest value for this debate is mo- As political philosopher John Rawls writes

in a Theory of Justice, “even though people ers subscribe to a modified Toulmin model of
normally seek advice and counsel and accept argumentation. In this model, an argument
the injunctions of those in authority when begins with a claim: the statement of the argu-
these seem reasonable to them, they are always ment you are making. The claim can be as sim-
accountable for their deed. We cannot divest ple as, “civil disobedience checks government
ourselves of our responsibility and transfer the abuse.” That statement doesn’t have any reason-
burden of blame to others.” ing behind it or explain why civil disobedience
The next step is to construct your arguments. checks government abuse, which would be the
A great way to start is to come up with about next logical step in the argument. Generally, an
four arguments that relate to each other and affirmative case has two main arguments, called
especially to your criterion and value premise. contentions. At times, a contention includes
If you begin with the arguments you like, you
can figure out the relationship between them
and construct your criterion and value prem-
ise based on the arguments. Alternatively, you
In your introduction, you’ll want to state
can start with your value premise and criterion, your value premise and criterion, what
however we find that students often get stuck
they mean, and why you selected them
trying to figure out how to start writing with
this approach. Nonetheless, you should do what as they relate to the resolution.
works for you. Coming up with arguments is al-
ways the hardest and most fun part of debate. A
great way to start is to hit the library and start sub-points or distinct but related arguments
reading about the resolution and understanding that prove the validity of the larger argument
where the conflict in the resolution occurs. The of the contention. This is the second step of the
literature on the resolution will be a great re- argument, the warrant. Assume that someone is
source for not only your arguments but also for standing behind you and every time you make
evidence that you can add to your case. Books, a claim, he shouts out: WHY? Your answer
articles, and the Internet will be great places to to that question is your warrant. Your warrant
start. Remember that not everything on the In- depends on the type of the argument you are
ternet is valuable or credible information. Look making. Claims about the real world require
for sources that you trust and that have credibil- warrants that describe the real world. If we re-
ity. Books and peer-reviewed academic journals turn to our example resolution of civil disobe-
are better than Facebook or Tumblr! dience one argument could be that civil disobe-
In writing out your arguments, most debat- dience is justified because it checks government

11
abuse. We would need some evidence about Once you’ve written your affirmative case,
civil disobedience being used against a bad law, you should start writing your negative case
from an authoritative source, to prove that the using the exact same model. You can rely on
use of civil disobedience does affect govern- your research but you can also take advantage
ment abuses. If your argument doesn’t describe of the case you’ve just written. How would
the real world, you could provide a more the- you respond to the affirmative arguments
oretical warrant for your claim. In addition to you’ve just written? The negative case should
providing your own reasoning for a warrant, prove the opposite of the resolution valid. In
you can also use scholarly authors as evidence our example, you would need to prove that
to show that your argument is true. This is civil disobedience is not justified. One argu-
where your research will come in handy. See if ment to support this view might be that civ-
il disobedience does not check government
abuses. Again, you would need to warrant this
argument with logical and authoritative proof
The negative case should prove the as well as show the bearing of this argument to
opposite of the resolution valid. your criterion or standard.

Your negative case (also called the negative
constructive or NC) should be about three to
three and a half minutes long when read aloud
your authors make similar arguments and cite at the most. You can add definitions to your neg-
them in support of your claim. Finally, you’ll ative case but you would not read them as part of
need to impact your argument or explain why your case unless the affirmative failed to define
the argument matters. You will always want the term and that definition was essential. Rath-
this part of your argument to relate to your cri- er, you would read them as responses to the affir-
terion or standard. Demonstrate how the truth mative case and provide a reason why your defi-
of your argument meets or achieves your crite- nition is preferable to the one provided by the
rion and therefore how you achieve your value affirmative. If you read a definition as the nega-
premise. In the basketball analogy, this was very tive without providing a rationale it is not con-
obvious: if I make a whole bunch of three-point sidered part of the debate. The speech is divided
shots, I’m more likely to score more points, and in two parts because the negative is also required
thus get to the Final Four. to respond to the affirmative arguments in their
Your affirmative case (also called the affir- first speech to begin the process of the debate.
mative constructive or the AC) should be six You’ll want to leave yourself enough time to ac-
minutes long when read aloud. complish this task after presenting your case.

WHAT IS A LOGICAL ARGUMENT? conflict. All values conflict and thus require
prioritizing. Say for example that Seth values
Logic is the ground on which the whole sys- his Diet Coke. It is very important to him to
tem of argument stands. We all have run into have his Diet Coke but he may not desire a
illogical arguments, whether they are from Diet Coke first thing in the morning. It is
politicians, parents, and people, but what fair to say that there are times when he val-
makes an argument logical? ues his Diet Coke more and times when he
We have noted that an argument includes values it less. Seth also values his money and
a claim, warrant(s) and an impact. Argu- that naturally conflicts with his ability to ob-
ments are more than a series of propositions. tain his Diet Coke. If Diet Coke were freely
A proposition is a sentence that is either true available, he would always drink it but if it
or false. So, the proposition, “Apple Val- cost $100 a can, he would definitely drink it
ley, MN is west of New York City” can be less often because his money is more import-
shown to be correct or incorrect. This par- ant. Seth prioritizes his money and his Diet
ticular proposition is an empirical proposi- Coke differently based on different circum-
tion, which means we can get some empiri- stances. In one instance, he may be holding a
cal, or factual, evidence, and test the truth or Diet Pepsi so he is unwilling to spend as little
falsehood of the proposition. Propositions as 50¢ to have a Diet Coke. However, if he
and sentences are joined together with log- is insanely parched and dehydrated, he may
ical connectors. Think of logical connec- pay even more than $100 to have just one can
tors as the “logic glue” that holds terms to- of Diet Coke. In general though, Seth prior-
gether and describes the proposition. If you itizes his Diet Coke over his money when it
can identify the primary ways to connect costs a reasonable amount. In this way, we
propositions and sentences, not only will can suggest that in a resolution such as “Seth
you be able to respond to your opponent’s ought to prioritize his money over Diet
arguments by showing that the connection Coke,” we could provide good reasons why
is false, you will also be able to make your ar- he should reasonably affirm the resolution.
guments much stronger. Good debaters can The statement is more valid than invalid as a
tell the difference between inductive and de- general principle.
ductive arguments. This is an admittedly silly example of how
It is important to note that value prop- we might assess value conflicts. Think about
ositions can never be proved either true or some other value conflicts and how you
false. They entirely depend on the agent, the might establish that an agent should priori-
action, and the context in which the values tize a value.

13
Table 1.1
Symbolic
Name Meaning
Connective
~ Negation Not, it is not the case, etc.
& Conjunction and, but, however, also
v Disjunction or (inclusive) and/or
> Conditional if, then, only if, given that
= Biconditional if and only if (equivalency)
INDUCTIVE LOGIC ence white. That must mean that all swans are
white. So far, so good, right? Not exactly. If
Inductive arguments are arguments that
we go to Australia, we discover that they not
are predictive, or where the premises of an
only have swans, but they are black. This ob-
argument support the conclusion of an argu-
ment, but do not support the conclusion ful- servation disproves our statement. In general,
ly and definitively. A famous example of the inductive logic proves the general arguments
shortcomings of inductive reasoning is: “All from specific, or particular, observations or
Swans are White.” We arrive at that conclu- circumstances.
sion because in the past, all of the swans we
have run into have been white. The swans that
DEDUCTIVE LOGIC
hang around the park are white. The pictures Deductive reasoning is where the rubber
of swans in books are white. Many of us have meets the road, when it comes to debate at
read Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White when least. In a deductive argument, if the premises
we were kids and Louis was a white swan. Ba- are true then the conclusion of the argument
sically, if we experience swan, we also experi- must be true. While we often assume that de-

ductive reasoning is preferable to inductive example of faulty logic because the premises
reasoning when it comes to debate, it’s im- fail to establish commonality between mem-
portant to remember that deductive logic can bership in the Democratic Party and being a
also be faulty. So you should spend as much traitor. This is the famous fallacy of the undis-
time as possible making your premises true, tributed middle.
through analysis and evidence. We should mention a few other logical
In general, deductive logic suggests that if fallacies. One key fallacy that debaters make
certain premises are true, a specific conclusion all the time has to do with correlation and
is true. An example of a valid deductive argu- causation: cum hoc ergo propter hoc (correla-
ments looks like this: tion not cause), which is also closely related to
post hoc ergo propter hoc, literally, “after this
Socrates is a man. therefore because of this.”
All men are mortal. Consider this argument about climate
Therefore, Socrates is mortal. change, made by our friends at the Church of
In the same method, though, we could cre- the Flying Spaghetti Monster:
ate an example of an invalid deductive argu- “You may be interested to know that global
ment and it might look like these: warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and oth-
er natural disasters are a direct effect of the
God is Love. shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s
Love is blind. … . As you can see, there is a statistically signif-
Ray Charles was blind. icant inverse relationship between pirates and
Therefore, Ray Charles was God. global temperature.”
All traitors despise the US government. Since the 19th century, global temperatures
have risen and (remember our logical connec-
Democrats despise the US government.
tors now), the number of pirates has declined.
Therefore, all Democrats are traitors.
So, does it then follow that global warming is
The example of Ray Charles is very instruc- due to the decline in the number of pirates?
tive of where exceeding the “rule of three” Uh … no … .
when it comes to premises, often results in The post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy sug-
faulty logic. Two premises, which lead to a gests that because an event followed another
conclusion, are good insurance against faulty that the first event caused the second. This
logic. However, don’t get too confident with relates to another argument that you as a de-
the three propositions, as we’ve noted here bater should be aware of, the alternative cau-
with our example of Democrats. This is an sality argument. These are arguments that try

15
to show that there is an alternative cause to the The argument begs the question, and is cir-
problem or issue the argument tries to address. cular, because the argument assumes what it
There are a number of logical fallacies that are is trying to prove. In short, pay attention to
informal—meaning you have to look into the how the logical connections work in your ar-
subtext of the argument to see if there is a fal- gument, as well as your opponent’s argument.
lacy or not—that are worth mentioning.
The other fallacy that is all over the place
WHAT IS THE VALUE PREMISE?
in debate rounds, and political debate gener-
ally, is the slippery slope fallacy. This fallacy This is a structural element of a LD case that
assumes that one step necessarily will lead to identifies what you believe the goal of the
another. Take for example the argument often resolution should be and why you’ve select-
made by opponents of gun control. “If you ed your value premise. This is also sometimes
ban assault rifles, the next thing to go will be called a value or a core value. Regardless of
the hunting rifles, and then honest law-abid- what it is called, it represents exactly same
ing hunters will not be able to enjoy the out- thing: what value does the resolution care
doors.” Now, you might be thinking that the about? When debating our earlier example of
real fallacy in that argument centers on the the resolution about civil disobedience, many
idea of enjoying the outdoors—because really, people used the value premise of justice. They
if you enjoy something, do you need to kill it selected justice because they argued that the
and tie it to the hood of your SUV? Actually, resolution asked what a justified action would
the fallacy refers to the initial step of a causal be in a democracy. Your value premise should
chain of events necessarily precipitating an- always be fair. A value premise is fair when it
other step. In the slippery slope, there is no is a goal that is achievable by both sides. That
way to stop short of the final conclusion. It is is to say that you’d never want a value premise
fallacious, because restraint could apply to the of “height” in our basketball analogy because
chain of events, and thus, the conclusion does
then the tall/slow players would always win.
not necessarily follow.
Likewise, you’d never want a value premise of
Begging the question, or the fallacy of cir-
conscience on the civil disobedience resolution.
cular reasoning, is another fallacy to put on
your list. Take the following example:
WHAT IS THE CRITERION?
Assume that when Scott Wunn is speak-
ing, he never lies.Scott Wunn is speaking. The criterion (plural: criteria) is also called the
Therefore, Scott Wunn is telling the truth. value criterion or the standard. The criterion

should act like a litmus test on the resolution. been all but entirely discredited and eliminat-
If you prove that your side better meets your ed from competitive debate rounds. The mod-
criterion, and thus your value premise, you ern criterion is a method of framing the round
should win the debate. Take a look at our bas- to provide the judge with a way to make their
ketball analogy: if we prove that our team will decision, or how to view the arguments in the
score more points then we’d get to the Final debate. Put simply, the criterion tells the judge
Four. Your criterion can come in the form of a which arguments are the most important in
phrase or a sentence. Many people use a criteri- the round.
on of “the protection of rights” to suggest that When the criterion is a statement, it usual-
if they protect more rights, they should win ly involves a rule that the agent of action must
the debate. You will need to investigate which follow. Let’s take an example of the Sept/Oct
criterion is right for your case. Again, your cri- 2006 resolution, Resolved: A just government
terion should be unbiased and supported with should provide health care to its citizens. The
evidence. In the analogy, both sides are capable agent of action is a just government. A pos-
of scoring more points so each side can access sible statement criterion for the affirmative
the criterion. In our example, the relationship might be that, “a just government must ensure
between the value premise and the criterion is the welfare of its poorest citizens.” You would
pretty obvious but in your cases, you will need need to explain why this is a rule, or maxim
to explain the relationship between the resolu- for just governments and that would consti-
tion and the value premise as well as between tute your criterion, or framework, analysis.
the value premise and the criterion. Under no A statement, or rule criterion, can also take
circumstances should you just state your val- advantage of assumption we all agree on such
ue premise and criterion without explaining as, “it’s wrong to kill innocent people,” or “it’s
the logical connection between the two. Your wrong to cause undue harm to innocents.”
judges will need to understand your rationale In all of these examples, you’ll notice that we
in order to evaluate your arguments. tend to immediately agree with the statement
or rule. You will always need to explain the
TYPES OF CRITERIA rationale for your criterion by suggesting that

this rule is the most important rule for the
While the criterion can take many forms, they agent in the resolution and for determining
will usually take the form of either a statement whether to affirm or negate the resolution.
or a concept. Some view the criterion, incor- A second type of criterion is the concept
rectly, as the definition of the value premise. criterion. More often than not, the concept
This antiquated version of the criterion has criterion is actually a statement criterion writ-

17
ten poorly. Take for example the criterion of resolution you are defending, and the argu-
“protection of individual rights,” where the ments made in your case. In choosing your
debater is trying to suggest that the highest own criterion, take a look at the arguments
goal of a government is to protect individual you’ve written on the topic. Try to determine
rights. The debater is still responsible for ex- what unifying theme or concept relates all of
plaining why the criterion is appropriate to your arguments together. This will start you
the value premise and the resolution. In our on the right track to finding the correct cri-
basketball analogy, we used a concept criteri- terion. In the following table, we have taken
on, scoring more points, to describe how the a few sample criteria that might help you get
affirmative and negative would obtain the val- started in the process of deciding which cri-
ue premise. You might notice that in many of terion is right for your case. You will need to
the sample cases, the debaters used concept assess whether the criterion properly evalu-
criteria but explained them as rules as well. ates the conflict in the resolution you are de-
In general, there’s no reason to prefer one bating. For example, if you are trying to de-
type of criterion to another unless judges in termine what criterion is appropriate in the
your area are used to one type or the other. basketball analogy, it seems relatively obvi-
However, you should always prefer a specific ous that “scoring more points,” is the correct
criterion to a vague one because the more spe- choice. Whether you are debating a resolu-
cifically you outline how a judge can make their tion on health care, international relations,
decision, the easier it is for him or her to evalu- an individual’s use of violent force, or high
ate your arguments as well as your opponent’s school administrations, you’ll need to specif-
arguments. You should spend a great deal of ically outline what would be an appropriate
time deciding on your criterion, wording it, criterion from the perspective of that context.
and warranting it, as it will determine the out- Notice that one criterion we haven’t sug-
come of most of your rounds. The better ex- gested here is “protection of individual rights,”
plained your criterion is and the more you link which you will notice is a ubiquitous criterion
to it, the more likely you are to win debates. among debaters. The reason for avoiding this
criterion is because any time a government
HOW TO DECIDE WHICH makes a decision, it trades one set of rights

CRITERION IS RIGHT FOR YOU for some people for another set of rights for
others. This means that both the affirmative
Any criterion must relate to many aspects of and the negative will be protecting rights. The
the debate: the resolution, the agent of ac- question that is actually important is which
tion, the action being taken, the side of the rights are more in need of protection in a giv-

Table 1.2
Agent Action Explanation Possible Criteria
Equality/Equal Treatment: This criterion

suggests that the government should attempt
to allocate the burdens and benefits of citizen-
ship equally among its membership so that
The resolution asks you to
one group isn’t more disadvantaged than any
Limitation of rights
choose to limit one per-

other group.
son or group of people’s
rights for a social benefit.
Preventing government abuse/preserving
Examples of these types of
checks: Since rights are used to prevent the
resolutions and cases are in-
government from acquiring too much power
cluded in the sample cases.
over the individual, this criterion suggests that
Government
the highest priority should be ensuring that

government is prevented from obtaining the
power to abuse its citizens.
Benefitting the least advantaged: A deriva-

These resolutions question tion of John Rawls’ argument, this criterion
whether it is appropriate suggests that a just government must provide
Provision of benefits
for government to provide for the poorest or least-well-off in society.

or withhold certain ben-
efits. The health care and Preventing government abuse: Again, this
capital punishment resolu- criterion claims that government may only
tions are examples of these provide or withhold benefits if it does not re-
resolutions. sult in government abuse that would be worse
for everyone.

19
en conflict. A criterion of “protection of indi- university library, all the better. Large library
vidual rights” doesn’t resolve that issue for us. collections hold specialized journals and top-
Remember, these are just examples. You’ll ic-specific books that can help you support
want to think about how the agent of action your arguments, and even more importantly,
in the resolution you’re debating evaluates de- point you in the direction of finding new ar-
cisions and why it would prioritize one claim guments.
over another. The most important aspect to When you find a piece of evidence or card
understand is that some arguments are more you want to use as a warrant for your argu-
important than others. You need to tell the ment, a couple rules of thumb apply:
judge why one set of arguments is more im- Each piece of evidence needs a full source
portant than another set of arguments. citation, or “cite.” A citation is a sentence that
includes the important bibliographic infor-
WHAT IS EVIDENCE? mation so that you, or another debater, can
track down the original source of the passage.
Evidence is the heart of sound argument. Evi- A good source citation for a book or a journal
dence can take many forms and debaters often will look like this.
refer to it as cards. The best forms of evidence Last name of author, first name of author,
in debate will be an argument—of sorts. A YEAR IN WHICH THE EVIDENCE
good piece of evidence will have a claim, a WAS WRITTEN. (The qualifications of the
warrant, (again, a few reasons why the claim is author) The Title of the Book From Which it
true), and perhaps a statement of significance Came, (City of publishing house, The name of
of the claim, or an impact. the publishing house, the copyright date), and
Why is evidence important? Great ques- the page number.
tion. Evidence can (and should!) serve as the
Here is an example of a source cite for a fic-
warrant for your own arguments. Evidence is
tional book:
used to prove your point, and with some time
Halvorson, Seth 2012 Formative Justice,
in the library, you can find great evidence to
(Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Po-
support your affirmative and negative argu-
litical Science, Columbia University),
ments. This might sound odd, but actually,
library research can be really fun and you and (New York: Oxford University Press,
your fellow teammates and coach should try 2009), p. 297.

to go to a good library as often as you can. As Often, pieces of evidence are taken from ac-
a debater, you should learn the library inside ademic or law journals and newspapers. Here
and out, and if you have access to a college or is another example:

Halvorson, Seth 2012 “Formative Jus- went into the study that they did, what they
tice: A Reply to my Critics.” Journal of concluded from their study, and so on.
Political Philosophy, Vol. 12, No.3, (No- One final word about cards: they are im-
vember, 2010), p. 65. portant for the warrant of your argument, but
in the end, they are not a substitute for an ar-
Why do debaters go to such trouble mak-
gument. Striking a balance between evidence
ing sure they have all this information? What’s
and logical analysis is important in persuading
the big deal? Because evidence is so important
your judge that your argument is sound.
in warranting our claims, the authenticity of
evidence is extremely important. In fact, mak-
ing up evidence is about as bad as athletes tak- WHAT ARE BLOCKS?
ing performance-enhancing drugs is in sports.
Blocks are basically a set of evidence and ar-
Another good rule of thumb for evidence is
guments against common arguments. As you
that a card should be longer than a sentence,
prepare, you might notice that many peo-
and approximately as long a normally sized
ple make the same arguments to defend one
paragraph. Remember, you want to be able to
side of the resolution or another. In your
use the evidence in the round to support your
post-tournament preparation, it is always wise
arguments, and not have to spend all the time
to write out your responses to common argu-
in the debate reading one card.
ments so that you will save preparation time in
These guidelines shouldn’t turn you off
the round by knowing exactly what to say. You
from using cards in a round or in a case. They
should also time your blocks, as well as each
are intended to let you know how to properly
individual answer, so that you know exactly
use evidence. It’s the same as knowing what a how much time it takes you to say your re-
regulation height for a hoop is in basketball. sponse(s). Blocks always list the argument be-
In fact, it is a really good idea to apply cards ing answered at the top and typically include
as warrants for your arguments against your the person who created the block as well as
opponent’s case. the resolution. The block should approach the
The qualifications of the source of the ev- argument being answered from different per-
idence are important. Just like you wouldn’t spectives just in case the particular opponent
trust a brain surgeon to speak authoritatively argues it slightly differently. In the following
on the topic of global warming, or your sister example, a block was prepared against democ-
for that matter (unless she is a climatologist), racy arguments on the topic: civil disobedi-
you should always ask about the qualifications ence in a democracy is morally justified. Many
of the author, the extent of the research that affirmatives, including the sample case in this

21
text, suggest that civil disobedience is a check 2. Democracy means that individuals
on government power therefore enhancing must recognize when the majority will is
democracy. Many negatives blocked this argu- different than their own personal good.
ment to have quick and immediate answers to
F.C. DeCoste, Professor of Law, Univer-
this common argument.
sity of Alberta, April, 2002 “Redeeming
AT: Civil Disobedience Enhances Dem- the Rule of Law: Constitutional Justice:
ocratic Institutions A Liberal Theory of the Rule of Law,
1. Civil disobedience is undemocrat- T.R.S. Allan.” Alberta Law Review. 39
ic because it permits a small, righteous Alberta L. Rev. 1004
group to trump the will of society. “That rules and policies must be ‘shown’
Fredrik Bendz, Professor of Philosophy to be justified in turn entails government
at Uppsala University, Sweden, 1997 by consent for it is the citizen that is the
addressee of this demonstration. “The
“Civil Disobedience: Introduction.”
law seeks the citizen’s acceptance of its
Online. <http://www.update.uu.se/~f-
demands as morally justified: he is invit-
bendz/philo/disobey.htm>
ed to acknowledge that obedience is the
“Disobedience is a forceful way of hav- appropriate response in light of his ob-
ing society do things your way. Even a ligation to further the legitimate needs
small group of citizens can, with only of the common good.” In consequence,
a little effort, cause great destruction “the rule of law is ultimately an ideal of
on the infrastructure of a country. The government by consent of the governed,
problem with this is that a small ter- in which the law invokes the assent of
ror group without any mandate from the individual by appeal to a morally ac-
the rest of the population may consid- cepted view of the common good.”
er themselves to be the righteous ones.
3. Civil disobedience is not guarded by
Some Anarchists even think that they
the constitution. There are no checks.
are acting in the best interest of society,
even though the people sympathize nei- Susan Tiefenbrun, Associate Professor
ther with their ends nor their means. Of Law At Thomas Jefferson School Of
These people seem to think that they are Law In San Diego, California, 2003 “Ar-
somehow superior, and that the others ticle: Civil Disobedience And The U.S.
don’t know their own best. This is a kind Constitution.” Southwestern University
of elitist thinking that I cannot accept.” Law Review. 32 Sw. U. L. Rev. 677

“However, there are occasions when a are reasonably designed to avoid inter-
person may feel morally justified in reference with others, the Constitution’s
sorting to impermissible methods of guarantees will not shield the protester.”
dissent, such as a direct disobedience of
a law. The use of impermissible means
of dissent is an act of civil disobedience
which is done intentionally and for Many negatives blocked this argument
moral purposes, and the disobedient,
to have quick and immediate answers
believing there is no other alternative to
accomplish the moral aim, expects to be to this common argument
punished for the unlawful act, irrespec-
tive of the noble motivation. United
States Supreme Court Justice Abe For- Notice that in this block, three pieces of ev-
tas insisted that a punishable offense will idence are prepared that answer the exact ar-
not, and should not, be excused unless gument made in the sample case. Blocks may
the law which is violated (such as a law also contain analytical answers, or answers in
segregating a public library) is unconsti- your own words. This is particularly useful be-
tutional or invalid. If the right to protest cause the debater can eliminate unnecessary
or to assemble peaceably is exercised for words and phrases to make their response as
the purpose of violating valid laws that concise as possible.

23
UNIT 3
During The Debate Round
WHAT IS PREPARATION TIME? to make, write those arguments down, and/

or organize your thoughts and your materials.
I
n each round, you are allotted at least four
You can use as much of your preparation time
minutes of preparation time. At some tour-
as you would like before each speech. Gener-
naments this will vary and you may have up
ally, judges will call out how much prep time
to five minutes. Check the tournament infor-
you’ve used in thirty-second chunks. You’ll
mation packet to determine how much prepa-
ration time will be given at the tournament. want to ask your judge how they’ll indicate
Standard practice, and the official national that to you or if you’ll be keeping track of your
standard, is to allot four minutes per debat- own prep time. More often than not, you’ll
er, per round. Preparation time, also known want to use about half of your preparation
as “prep time,” is kind of like a timeout where time, or two minutes, before your first rebut-
you can think about the arguments you want tal and the last half of your preparation time

25
before your second rebuttal. Of course, you a series of questions that the affirmative will
could split up your time any number of ways answer. You should think about some ques-
but you always want to remember to save time tions that you could ask any affirmative. For
for preparing that second rebuttal because that example, on civil disobedience, you might ask
is typically where the round is won or lost. whether all actions of civil disobedience are
To maximize the time you have to answer non-violent and whether violent acts of civil
arguments, try to improve your flowing skills disobedience are justified? As well, you should
so that you can write answers to arguments as tailor your cross-examination to the affirma-
your opponent is speaking. We discuss flowing tive case. Ask about the logical structure and
in more detail later. That way, you’ll be able to conclusions of their arguments. Are they really
use your prep time to really think about ar- proving their arguments to be true or are they
guments and their connections to the value simply saying they are true? Use the why test
premise, criterion, resolution, as well as com- from your casing work against the affirmative
pare arguments. You can also take the time to case. Are they warranting their arguments?
find evidence that you might use to respond to Where are the leaps in logic? Where does the
your opponent’s arguments during this time. argument falter? Are there counter-exam-
Remember, while your opponent is using ples to their claim? Your goal in cross-exam-
their preparation time, you should also be ination is to expose the logical flaws in your
preparing. While you can’t be certain of what opponent’s argumentation, point out contra-
they are about to say, you can take advantage dictions, and eliminate any arguments that
of his or her four minutes by getting mate- are irrelevant to the resolution. You can also
rials together or planning your next speech. use cross-examination to have them repeat ar-
Think back to the questions he or she asked guments that you didn’t understand the first
you in cross-ex, they can serve as clues to time or you weren’t able to write down.
their position. After the negative constructive (and rebut-
tal portion of their speech, which is a total of
WHAT IS CROSS-EXAMINATION? seven minutes), the affirmative will rise and

face the judge to ask questions of the nega-
Just like in a courtroom, debaters are per- tive. Follow the same model above by having
mitted three minutes after each constructive a few prepared questions and a few specific
to ask questions of each other regarding their questions, after you have heard your oppo-
cases and positions. After the affirmative case nent’s case.
is read, the negative debater will rise and face Maintaining eye contact with the judge is
the judge (rather than the opponent) and ask crucial. Many judges may not make direct eye

contact with you, but, even if they are look- Eye contact is one way in which a debat-
ing at their notes or writing down informa- er can demonstrate that she is a comfortable
tion, they still know whether you are making speaker. Inexperienced speakers tend to
eye contact with them, your opponent, or no look at walls, their opponent, or their paper.
one. Many debaters avoid direct eye contact This demonstrates a lack of control over the
because looking at the same person for a sus- presentation. While you may need to glance
tained period of time is awkward. Get over at you notes occasionally, don’t concentrate
that feeling; you need to connect with the on them. Instead, put eye contact to good
judge to persuade him to accept your argu- use by engaging the audience and particular-
ments, and making eye contact is an import- ly the judge.
ant way of doing so. If you have an audience, Gestures are the next factor that makes
you don’t have to focus solely on the judge; for effective cross-examination. Since debat-
you can break eye contact with the judge to ers stand next to each other during this time,
interact with the audience periodically. you can easily fall into one of two traps. You

27
may not gesture enough (meaning your arms demonstrate outstanding speaking skills. This
are glued to your sides) and end up looking seems like a large task to undertake in only
wooden or lacking in confidence. Or, you may three minutes—it is! That’s why you need to
gesture too much and inadvertently hit your practice your cross-examination skills. Good
opponent and have to apologize. If you do, cross-examinations gain the judge’s attention
you’ll break the flow of the cross-examination. and keep them interested through the entire
Stand at least a foot or two apart from your speech time.
opponent so you don’t accidentally hit each
other. Gestures are useful because they em- ASKING QUESTIONS
phasis main points and serve as a non-verbal Excellent debaters will consider cross-ex-
transition. Students who are experienced at amination time as extra speech time because,
if utilized correctly, it sets up future speeches.
While judges pay attention to cross-examina-
tion periods and may remember a particular
Many debaters throw away cross-examination concession, it is essential that you reiterate
by asking questions that simplify arguments concessions and answers made in cross-exam-
ination during your speech.
rather than showcasing delivery techniques.
You should plan for cross-examination
to go well for you. Preparation begins with
short, clear, and concise questions. For exam-
using hand gestures can effectively indicate a ple, on a topic whether there is a moral obliga-
shift in ideas. Some students, however, over- tion to help people in need, a student might
use hand gestures. Overusing hand gestures ask, “When on an airplane, why do the flight
can have a serious impact: they no longer serve attendants ask passengers to put on their
a purpose. own oxygen mask before assisting others?” or
Many debaters throw away cross-exam- “Why are lifeguards instructed to put them-
ination by asking questions that simplify selves in between the victim and an oncoming
arguments rather than showcasing delivery wave?” These questions incorporate exam-
techniques. While clarifying arguments is an ples where most people have some familiarity.
important part of cross-examination, it is not Most travelers have heard the all too familiar
and should not be the only goal. Excellent instructions from flight attendants. However,
debaters will use cross-examination to show- these questions are not restricted to personal
case their personality, trap their opponent, knowledge about airplanes or lifeguarding.
lay the groundwork for future speeches, and Instead, they ask the opponent to think criti-

cally about why these instructions are given to Remember that not all cross-examination
people. Even if the opponent does not answer questions will go as planned. However, this
the question exactly as the debater anticipat- planning process gives debaters a bit more
ed, they have still gotten these general exam- security when asking questions. They know
ples in the judge’s head as the debater begins which ideas to go back to when an answer
a rebuttal. Then, referencing these ideas be- from their opponent confuses them. In addi-
comes even easier during the rebuttal. tion, you can think through goals for cross-ex-
Plan for your plan to fail. While prepara- amination time. What do you want your
tion is key to cross-examination, it is also the opponent to admit? What would help your
sign of a good critical thinker when she can case? What would lend some support to an
abandon her strategy. Listen carefully to the argument you already have? Concessions in
debate case that is being read. As your op- cross-examination help to support a well-war-
ponent is talking, think of questions to ask. ranted case. Once your opponent makes a
Using your opponent’s rhetoric is also helpful concession, remember to make a note. In prep
when crafting question such as their conten- time, it is important to best determine how to
tion sentence or a particular line from a piece incorporate the concession into the speech.
of evidence. This requires good note taking
skills and an excellent memory. You should ANSWERING QUESTIONS:
form questions by listening to the arguments Asking questions is only half of the job. The
from your opponent’s case and seeing where other half is answering questions that your op-
there are: ponent poses when they are asking the ques-
• Lack of warrants or explanations tions. In this situation, you want to avoid con-
• Lack of credentials for authors or ceding something important but also avoid
sources seeming evasive. Let’s take a look at some tips
for how to answer questions.
• Gaps in logic
• Develop concise and complete
• Lack of evidence
answers: debaters sometimes seek to
• Failing to prove the topic true or false
avoid anything that may appear to be a
• Contradictions concession in a round. However, this
You might have a hard time developing objective sometimes makes debaters
cross-examination questions. To solve this look even worse than if they had just
problem, it is important to practice and pre- answered the question truthfully. It is
pare for cross-examination. important to take time to formulate an

29
answer (a few seconds is not a big deal) better than authoritative evidence such
and provide a complete answer. as a study or a philosopher.
• Change examples if they do not meet • Provide examples for arguments.
your needs. Some cross-examination Answer questions using relevant
questions are illustrated through examples that explain issues. These
examples that you need to explain examples can relate to something
in the context of the debate. For unrelated to the topic (as our flight
example, we gave the example earlier attendant instructions from earlier) or
of a flight attendant giving instructions they can be examples that are directly
to passengers. Rather than suggest that related to the topic. For example,
the situations are similar, you should students debating the civil disobedience
change the example instead of trying to topic may choose to use the Civil
find a way to answer it that would work Rights Movement to explain certain
within your position. In this situation, arguments. Using names and details is
the you might say, “An oxygen mask isn’t a great way to help a judge gain greater
quite analogous to what we are talking understanding of the issues in a round.
about. Instead, imagine a person saving • Ask for clarification if questions are
for a trip. He could use that money to confusing. Knowing when to use this
give away to needy people or save the tactic is important. You should use it
money for himself.” You must also only when a question is legitimately
justify why the shift in examples is confusing rather than when you want
necessary. You can easily prepare for to buy more time. Judges know the
changing examples by having an arsenal difference. If a question is confusing,
of them that prove either side of the ask the opponent to reword the
resolution true. Examples are typically question using different terms. Often,
insufficient to prove an argument debaters may try to deliberately confuse
true, so they should never be the sole their opponent in order to receive a
method of proving a point. However, concession on the topic. Rather than
examples are a good way of clarifying agreeing to something that is unclear,
issues on the topic so that a judge ask for clarification. Even after multiple
can relate to your arguments better. attempts, you may still be confused by
Sometimes judges who are unfamiliar the question. If the judge is looking
with the topic identify with examples confused as well, then reaffirm that it

is unclear. Reading the judge is crucial. Admittedly, these skills only come with
If the judge looks as if she understands practice. So, it is important to practice
your opponent, try to answer the cross-examination just as much as any
questions. In this situation, you may debater would practice rebuttals or
opt to re-explain your argument rather crystallization.
than ask for further clarification. • Think about questions before
• Don’t show fear. When answering answering. You might be afraid to
questions you might be afraid of being take the time to think about questions
caught off guard. You may feel as before they answer them. Many believe
though you don’t know how to answer it is a sign of weakness if they have
a question or might worry that you to think! However, thinking about
might admit to something devastating. questions is especially important if the
It is important to be honest and question seems tricky or confusing.
provide detailed answers during the Rather than blurting out an answer,
cross-examination. It will be rare that think before you speak. Take a few
you fail to identify a huge concession seconds to organize your answer.
before you make it. If you realize that
Debates are usually not won and lost during
you misspoke, clarify or correct your
cross-examination. However, good cross-ex-
comments immediately. If it takes
amination periods engage both debaters and
until the speech, try to explain to your
the judge.
judge what you really meant to say.

31
UNIT 4
Refutation
HOW DO I RESPOND TO AN ARGUMENT? tiple arguments, and as a result, clear sign-

posting is essential. One model for restat-
STEP ONE: BRIEFLY RESTATE YOUR ing your opponent’s argument is, “In her
OPPONENT’S ARGUMENT first contention, my opponent argues that
health care is a precondition for political
The first step in responding to an argu-
participation.” Notice that it is unnecessary
ment is to providing a geographic marker
for you to re-explain the entirety of their
for your argument while you restate your
argument. Rather, a brief explanation is
opponent’s argument. This is done so that enough. However, it is absolutely essential
the judge and your opponent know which that you locate the argument for the judge
argument you are responding to and where by describing where in the debate the argu-
it is in the debate. Some debates have mul- ment occurred.

33
STEP TWO: STATE YOUR RESPONSE(S) you achieve their criterion better than they can.
If you are confused, don’t worry. The idea is
The second step is to state your response
rather simple. Remember the basketball anal-
(or responses) to the affirmative’s argument.
ogy; all you’re doing is explaining to the judge
This can involve counter-claiming (worst),
why a blocked shot or a two-point shot will
nit-picking, or pimping, the argument (bad),
result in scoring more points for your group
mitigating the argument (ok), taking out the
of players rather than the other group of play-
argument (good), or turning the argument
ers. Because the criterion or the standard is
(best). These are the four main types of argu-
the tool that debaters use to evaluate an ar-
ments made in debate rounds. The following
gument’s significance to the debate, you will
table assesses the relative strength of responses
want to explain how your response connects
to the argument, “capital punishment deters
with the criterion.
future crime.” Notice that offensive responses
are always better than defensive responses. STEP FOUR: MOVE ON TO THE NEXT
ARGUMENT YOUR OPPONENT MAKES,
STEP THREE: RELATE THE AND REPEAT THE ABOVE SEQUENCE.
RESPONSE TO THE CRITERION
As a negative debater, you should respond
The third step is really important. Like most to all of the arguments that the affirmative
important things, at first this can be difficult has made in his or her case in the order they
to understand. After you are finished making presented them. Generally, you should be-
responses to your opponent’s argument, you gin with the value premise and criterion by
should relate your arguments to the criterion. responding directly to the affirmative logic.
Now, depending on your refutation strategy, You should then answer the first argument
you might connect the impact of your argu- in the first contention. After you are finished
ment, or the conclusion of the argument, to the responding to an argument, then move on to
affirmative standard. On the other hand, you the next sub-point, or the next contention.
might connect or analyze the impact of your Try to keep track of your remaining time, so
argument to the negative standard. You might you will be able to respond to all of the argu-
also connect the impact of your argument to ments the affirmative has made. If it appears
both the affirmative and negative standards. that time will not permit you to address ev-
When impacting defensive answers, you will ery argument made by your opponent, select
always be suggesting that the debater cannot those arguments you believe are the most cru-
achieve their criterion. When impacting offen- cial to attack because they are essential to your
sive answers, you will always be suggesting that opponent’s case.

Table 1.3
Type of
How it is Used Argument Result
Argument
“Capital punishment does not

Counterclaim None.
deter crime.”
“This argument has no

warrant.” No result unless dropped by
Pimp
Defensive arguments
“This argument has no impact.” opponent.

“This argument doesn’t link.”
“Evidence for and against

Capital punishment does not
deterrence exists. Since it is
Mitigate deter crime in all cases but does
inconclusive, we cannot be
in some.
certain of the deterrent effect.”
“Conclusive evidence suggests

that capital punishment does
not have a deterrent effect be- Capital punishment does not
Take-out
cause criminals are not rational deter crime.
so they don’t think about the
consequences of their actions.”
“Evidence suggests that when

Offensive argument
murderers are witnessed they

Turn kill any remaining witnesses
Capital punishment makes
Note: This is because they would already re-
crime more likely.
a link-turn. ceive the highest punishment.
Capital punishment creates an
incentive to finish the job.”

35
ANSWERING THE VALUE rion is appropriate for that value premise.
PREMISE & CRITERION Likewise, if there is disagreement over the
criterion, that also must be resolved before
In most debates, you will discover that anyone can win one of the arguments. For
you and your opponent disagree on the example, if the debaters agree that the goal is
value premises or criteria for the debate. In the NCAA Final Four but one debater sug-
the Basketball Analogy, this happens when gests that good coaching will get the team to
someone argues that you are the football succeed but the other debater suggest that
coach or the golf coach. Notice that the great training facilities will help the team
arguments are entirely different when the win, the arguments supporting those crite-
sport changes. A field goal in basketball is ria differ greatly. This is a fairly reasonable
disagreement because it is very difficult to
find that one correct criterion for a resolu-
tion. However, it is not uncommon for some
You will need to identify what the debaters to select absurd criteria for the de-
difference is between your value bate. In our example, it would be the same as
someone suggesting that the best way to get
premise and criterion structure and the to the NCAA Final Four would be to have
structure your opponent is using cute cheerleaders. While it is possible to
make arguments for why those girls might be
helpful—they are very talented and do help
the team—they are probably a very tangen-
much different from a field goal in football. tial factor to getting to the Final Four.
As well, consider how the arguments change When you are involved in a real round, it
if the goal of the resolution isn’t the NCAA will rarely involve arguments about basket-
Final Four but rather the Masters in golf. ball coaches, golf strokes, or cheerleaders.
The most noticeable change is the criterion: Instead, you will need to identify what the
in basketball you win by scoring more points difference is between your value premise and
but in golf, you win by scoring fewer points! criterion structure and the structure your
Few debaters understand that if there is dis- opponent is using. Ask yourself, or your op-
agreement about the value premise, the cri- ponent in cross-ex, how the structure links
terion and all of the arguments are affected. together and how it relates to the agent in
The value premise disagreement must be the resolution as well as the action being
resolved in order to determine which crite- taken in the resolution. If you have properly

answered those questions, you should have ASSUMPTIONS, ARGUMENTS,
little trouble explaining why your oppo- AND REFUTATION
nent’s standard is flawed.
It is very important to note that answers to
WHAT IS AN ASSUMPTION?
the value premise and criterion are about ap-
All arguments have assumptions. In fact,
propriateness. It is unnecessary, and unwise,
if you are critically analyzing an argument
to make answers on this level by suggesting
sufficiently, chances are you are trying to
that your opponent cannot meet the crite-
tackle the assumptions of the argument. An
rion or value premise. Those are arguments
better and more appropriately made against assumption is something that is presumed to
the case. You should reserve answers for the be true, something independent of the argu-
criterion and value premise that attack the ment, and is required for the argument to be
relationship between the value premise and true. Assumption comes from the Latin ad
the agent of action in the resolution, the val- & sumere. Basically it means, “to take some-
ue premise and the criterion, the criterion thing for granted.” We take a lot for granted
and the action being taken in the resolution, in arguments, not just in the world of debate,
and either the value premise or criterion and but in the real world as well. Good debaters
any other terms in the resolution. This takes are those that critically assess the assumptions
some practice but you will save a considerable on which an argument, a position, a case, or
amount of time and energy by avoiding the a worldview depends. The best debaters in-
arguments that suggest your opponent can’t validate the assumptions behind an argument
meet their criterion or value premise. It is through analysis as well as evidence and can
also rarely the case that the value premise is also support the assumptions of their position
an objectively bad value. It was once vogue if interrogated by the opponent. You should
to find evidence to suggest why value prem- always question the assumptions of your op-
ise could be misused. However, this practice ponent’s arguments. But questioning is not
has been abandoned in favor of questioning enough, you need to demonstrate that the
the appropriateness of the value premise to stated or unstated assumptions are false. You
the resolution. Recall our discussion earlier should also critically dissect the assumptions
about how values are always in conflict with of your own arguments and case positions.
one another. To suggest that a value premise The more you investigate the assumptions of
is “bad” assumes a particular set of circum- an argument, the better you will be at defend-
stances and a particular way of prioritizing ing an argument and challenging other argu-
values relative to each other. ments. This critical stance takes practice, but

37
with some effort you can become very good at EVERY ARGUMENT HAS ASSUMPTIONS
identifying the assumptions of an argument.
Just because an argument takes something
Assumptions can be difficult to deal with
for granted, or has a set of implicit assump-
in debate (and life!) because they are often
tions, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the
unconscious. They largely occur in the back- argument is wrong, or faulty. It simply means
ground of an argument, and thus are not ex- the argument has some assumptions. An ar-
plicitly stated. Assumptions are required to gument may rely on many assumptions. The
make “everything hang together.” Sometimes more unstated assumptions an argument relies
this process of scrutiny is uncomfortable— as on to be true, the more the argument is ques-
we dig down into the foundations of our ar- tionable or wobbly. So, the natural solution
guments, values, and views on the world we to this problem would be warrant, though ev-
might find that an unstated assumption that idence and analysis, the unstated assumptions
we depended on is unfounded or unwarrant- on which we depend for our arguments to be
ed. If you have ever tried to build a house of strong. Another solution would be to warrant
cards or played Jenga you know that if you take the assumptions of your arguments so that
too many of the bottom cards or pieces out, you will win the day.
the whole structure collapses. The same prin-
ciple applies to arguments. If the argument is HOW-TO: IDENTIFY THE UNSTATED
something that have believed in, or need to ASSUMPTIONS OF AN ARGUMENT
believe in for whatever reason, our perspective Ask yourself what needs to be true, outside
on the world can change. Think back to the of the argument, for the following argument
time when you first heard the truth about San- to be true? The trick is to disprove the assump-
ta Claus. That can be a little rough, but it also tion on which an argument depends. If you
can be exciting. The world is different, and we can do that, you topple the house of cards.
have grown because of our critical inquiry into Let’s look at an example. Try and identify
an argument. the assumptions on which the following ar-
We will take a look at one argument and gument depends. To pick out an assumption,
try to identify the assumptions on which it ask yourself: “What has to be true, for the ar-
stands. But before we talk about the tools you gument to be true?” Isolate what needs to be
can use to pinpoint assumptions, and what true for the argument to be true.
you can do in debate rounds once you spot If I am tall, then I am good at basketball.
them, there are a few other things that need to I am 6’2”.
be mentioned. Therefore, I am good at basketball.

First, I would in fact have to be tall. That as- ment should provide health care to its citizens.”
sumption has to be true for the argument to be Let us also look at the negative side of the resolu-
true. If “tall” is not 6’ 2”, but rather, 7’ or more, tion for a moment. What unstated assumptions
then is the assumption that I am “tall” actually could the affirmative prove to be false so that he
correct? Further, I may be tall, tall enough to or she could take out or turn the argument?
be thought to be good at basketball, but what Here is a synopsis of the negative side: The
if I am not athletically inclined? I could be value premise is justice, and the criterion is
tall but have absolutely no hand-eye coordina- freedom of choice. The argument is that a just
tion. So you can see that there is a lot that an government would not provide health care to
argument “stands on” in order to be true. The its citizens because the free market and volun-
real question is whether the falsity of one un- tary health insurance is a better means to pro-
vide health care.
stated assumption of an argument destroys the
Daniel P. Kessler, Wall Street Journal, May
truth of the argument. Put differently, if one
04, 2004
assumption of an argument is false, then must
it be the case that the whole argument false?
This may be the case, but then again, maybe
not. The job of the debater is to explain why The better your analysis and evidence
a false assumption is or is not enough to show the stronger your argument will be.
the argument false. I might be 6’ 2”, and that
might that might count as a strike against me
as a good basketball player, but, then again, I
America’s health-care policy stands at the
also might be an excellent three-point shooter. crossroads. Either we are going to continue
A lot of work goes into supporting argu- the slow march toward a government-driven
ments and you should do your best to identify system, or we are going to choose a free-mar-
the shaky assumptions in your own positions ket solution that puts consumers in charge.
and especially your opponent’s. Some assump- The governmental system ultimately will lead
tions are more reasonable than others. This to less choice and a stifling of innovation. The
is why evidence is especially important. The free-market solution will enable America to
better your analysis and evidence the stronger solve its health-care cost problem and cap-
your argument will be. ture the promise of 21st-century medicine; a
Let’s take a look at one debate argument and promise of new cures for diseases and longer
explore the unstated assumptions behind an ar- lives made possible by the mapping of the hu-
gument on the topic: “Resolved: A just govern- man genome, and nanotechnology.

39
Table 1.4
Assumption Counter-Attack
The free market actually puts consumers in The free market puts business in charge.
charge. In fact, the market privileges only those that
have the money to play the game.
There would be no choice in a governmen- Government encourages choice.

tal system. In fact, many government-administered
programs have extensive consumer choice.
Governmental systems stifle innovation. The government sponsors innovation. Most

current innovations are sponsored by the
federal government and federal funding.
Technological advances decrease costs of Technological advances have been out-

health care. standing in the last few decades but health
care costs have continued to rise.
Health care is appropriately understood Efficiency is not a standard for justice.

within a market model. While a market model may be more effec-
tive at distributing commodities such as
education and national security, a market
approach would be absurd.
Consumers can make reasonable decisions While many consumers are savvy about
when it comes to health care. their health care decisions, many people ar-
en’t capable of navigating all of the health
care options available to them. Further
the people who need healthcare more are
the least-likely to be market-savvy (i.e., the
poor, the elderly, and children).

In the end, if you can identify and also the fact that the authors’ sisters genuinely
falsify the assumption of an argument you love and care for us. What assumptions can
will be able to find a way to respond, and you identify from the text in general, from
perhaps turn an argument. Notice that its structure, from this chapter, from this
even the assumptions have assumptions and sentence?
that your responses have assumptions. At Undoubtedly questioning assumptions
some level, there are assumptions that we all can become infinitely regressive, which is
take for granted, or that we agree to assume to say that we could constantly question as-
to make life easier. Think about how absurd sumptions and the assumptions behind those
life would be if we constantly questioning assumptions and the assumptions behind
every possible assumption. This textbook those assumptions and the assumptions be-
makes hundreds of assumptions including hind those assumptions and so on.

41
UNIT 5
Rebuttal Speeches
THE FIRST NEGATIVE REBUTTAL and criterion and typically has one to two
main arguments, called contentions. With a
A
fter the cross-examination of the affir-
combination of logical analysis, evidence, and
mative by the negative, the negative will
good organization, the best negative cases are
have the opportunity to present his or
typically three to three and a half minutes in
her case. The first negative rebuttal, typically
length when read a loud.
called the NR, or the 1NR has two compo-
nents and is seven minutes in length. The neg- After presenting the negative case, there is
ative debater presents his or her case on their still more to do and more fun to be had. Since
side of the resolution, or in the case of our ini- the speech is seven minutes in length, and the
tial example of a resolution, and arguments as negative case typically takes about half of that
to why civil disobedience is not justified. The time to present, the rest of the time (three
negative case should include a value premise to four minutes) is devoted to answering the

43
affirmative case and the arguments present- bate, the more answers you’ll be able to make.
ed by the affirmative. More often than not, If you choose to make more than one response
negative debaters will address the affirmative to a particular point, make sure that you num-
value premise or criterion by showing its logi- ber them so that a judge can quickly and easily
cal deficiencies. Recalling our example of the write down your answers. For example, “my
choice between tall/slow or short/fast basket- first response is that cute cheerleaders are not
ball players, the use of a fair and logical stan- related to the NCAA national championship
dard of evaluation is crucial. If the affirma- but scoring more points is related to winning
tive’s criterion does not logically connect to the championship because it an objective
the value premise, you should point that out. measure of which team is more skilled at the
For example, if the affirmative’s value premise, sport. My second response is that cute cheer-
or goal, is winning the NCAA, yet they have leaders will make any team less likely to win
the criterion of “cute cheerleaders,” they might a national championship because they may be
be using an inappropriate method to evaluate very distracting!”
whether or not a team has what it takes to win
the national championship.
THE FIRST AFFIRMATIVE REBUTTAL
After making a few arguments against the
value premise and the criterion, the negative After the negative finishes their case and re-
should directly respond to each of the affir- buttal to your case, you will rise and face the
mative’s case arguments. Always answer argu- judge for cross-examination. Remember, this
ments in the order they were presented. This is your three minutes to ask any questions of
makes it easier for your judge to understand the negative that involve their case or their
what you are responding to because you are answers to your case. Follow the instructions
following the same order as your opponent. If earlier for a great cross-examination session.
you start answering arguments in another or- After cross-examination, you will probably
der, you are likely to confuse your opponent need some preparation time to collect your
and your judge, as well as lose the debate. The thoughts and finish writing your answers to
affirmative should be constructing their case the negative. Don’t forget that you’ll need
very similarly to how you did. So, there’s a plenty of prep time before the 2AR. You
value premise, criterion, and a few major ar- should reserve some of your time for that.
guments. You’ll want to make sure that you After your prep-time, your first affirmative
respond to each part. At the very minimum rebuttal, also known as the 1AR, should be
then, you should have at least five answers to much like the first negative rebuttal, but you’re
the affirmative case. The better you get at de- obviously defending the other side. Typically,

you’ll want to start with the negative case and Final Four doesn’t tell us whether to prefer a
answer each of the arguments they present in group of tall, slow players or a group of short,
their case. This includes the value premise, cri- fast players.
terion, and their contentions. Again, at a min- If an opponent doesn’t address an argu-
imum, you’ll want to be making at least five ment, that does not confer truth to the ar-
answers. However, make sure you watch your gument but rather gives you an opportunity
time in this speech because you only have four to try to convince the judge that it is an im-
minutes to address both the negative and the portant argument for them to consider. Some
affirmative cases and responses. debaters will suggest that when an argument
When you’re finished with the negative is unaddressed the opponent has conceded to
case, indicate to the judge that you want to that argument. However, in academic debate,
start talking about the responses made to the which has time limits, it is not possible for
affirmative case. Most people accomplish this debaters to address every possible argument
by saying something like, “Now, let’s examine made by either side. Instead, debaters choose
the affirmative case.”
Remember, you should answer arguments
in the order they were presented. Starting
with the negative case in the 1AR makes a lot If an opponent doesn’t address an argument,
of sense, and when you begin defending the that does not confer truth to the argument
affirmative case, you will want to continue
answering arguments in the order the nega-
but rather gives you an opportunity to try
tive made them. So, if your opponent’s first to convince the judge that it is an important
answer was against the value premise, you will argument for them to consider.
want to start there. If his or her first answer is
against the criterion, they have not addressed
the value premise and you’ll want to say some-
thing about that. Any arguments that aren’t the most important arguments to address and
answered by your opponent are called drops, explain why unaddressed arguments are super-
which is kind of like dropping the ball. If an fluous or critical depending on the situation.
opponent drops your value premise or crite- If you and your opponent have different
rion, you would not automatically win the value premises or criteria, his or her failure to
round. In the basketball analogy, just prov- address your value premise or criterion means
ing that we’re playing basketball and that we that the judge can use your approach. You will
need to score more points to win the NCAA still want to explain why it is the better val-

45
ue premise and criterion, but you can spend a score more points than short, fast players and
little less time there. If your opponent doesn’t thus make it to the NCAA Final Four.”
address one of your arguments, you can extend Notice that the argument is weighed and
the argument and relate it to your criterion as impacted to the criterion of scoring more
one reason why you prove your side to be true. points as well as the value premise of the
For example, if your opponent drops your ar- NCAA Final Four. This needs to be done for
gument as to why tall, slow players would be each dropped argument for the argument to
better at making two-point shots you would matter in the debate round.
say something like this: If your opponent does answer your argu-
“My opponent fails to respond to my arguments, you will want to answer their argu-
ment about how tall, slow players are more ad- ments. This does not mean repeating your
ept at two-point shots. Since two-point shots original argument but rather, establishing
are most of the shots taken in any basketball why the answer is flawed or why it doesn’t
game, this proves how tall, slow players will answer your original argument. In addition,

you will need to extend arguments that you the responses to your responses to the affirma-
think are still valid. This means that you in- tive case. The same basic model of refutation
form the judge that your opponent did not in the 1AR to arguments applies from above
sufficiently disprove your argument and that but in the 2NR, for example, you need to be
your argument still proves your side is valid. careful not to make any new arguments. If
Extended arguments will also need to be tied you’ve already dropped an argument in the
to your criterion and value premise in order 1AR, say the last argument of the affirma-
to be useful in the debate. For example, if you tive, you cannot bring up any arguments in
have an argument about how basketball play- this speech to answer those arguments. New
ers like to eat cheese and your opponent drops answers can only happen in the first rebuttal
that argument, extending the argument isn’t speeches because it is your first opportunity
very useful to you prove your side to be valid to answer the argument. A new argument is
since it doesn’t relate to scoring more points not good debate etiquette because your oppo-
or reaching the NCAA Final Four. nent does not have a fair chance to respond
Remember that the obligations of the neg- to your argument. For example, think about
ative rebuttal also apply to you. These include: how you would feel if your opponent made
responding to arguments in the order they an entirely new argument in their second af-
were presented, numbering your answers if you firmative rebuttal? You don’t have a 3NR to
have multiple arguments, and answering all of attack their argument and then the affirma-
the arguments presented by your opponent. If tive would always win debates. So, for fairness
you drop an argument in your affirmative re- sake, you should not make new arguments in
buttal, including a negative case argument or a your second rebuttals. New arguments are bad
response that they made against your case, they form but more importantly, many ballots tell
can extend their original argument and connect judges to explicitly disregard new arguments
it to the criterion, to potentially win the debate. when deciding the round.
In general, the more arguments you can In general, you’ll want to start your second
connect to the criterion in the affirmative re- negative rebuttal on the affirmative case. Re-
buttal, the better. establish your answers to the affirmative case
(in order, of course) by pointing out why the
THE SECOND NEGATIVE REBUTTAL affirmative answers fail to disprove your orig-
inal answer and why their original argument
The second negative rebuttal, also called the is still flawed. In this speech in particular, you
2NR, is the chance for you to respond to ar- will want to make an effort to compare your
guments made against your case and against arguments to your opponent’s arguments with

47
reference to the criterion. Remember our dis- appropriate value premise and criterion
cussion of weighing in the basketball analogy: for the resolution. However, at this
this is your last opportunity to explain the va- stage, it’s also a good idea to talk about
lidity of your arguments in reference to your any arguments that you have against
opponent’s and why you are winning the de- their case that are offensive and would
bate. You will want to attempt to accomplish win you your opponent’s criterion or
this for both the affirmative and negative case. value premise. Just in case your judge
When you’re finished reestablishing your ar- chooses to use your opponent’s value
guments against the affirmative, you should re- premise and criterion, you still have a
turn to your negative case (in order, of course) way to win.
and answer the attacks against your case, ex- 2. Which arguments are you winning that
tend and impact any arguments that were un- connect to, or impact, your criterion?
addressed, and generally reestablish why the Identify your strongest arguments that
judge should vote against the resolution. are still valid in the debate. Generally
In addition to the line-by-line, or point-by- identifying winning arguments takes
point approach, you will also want to identify two forms. First, because your opponent
which main arguments or issues that prove the didn’t attack them or second, because
negative should win the round. We call these you’ve defeated their attacks. You need
voting issues (or crystallization) because these to show the judge through your analysis
are the arguments that you would like the why those arguments prove why you
judge to use in making their decision. are achieving the criterion better than
In order to make a decision, a judge needs your opponent.
to know a few things in very specific order: 3. Is your opponent winning arguments
1. If there is disagreement over the that achieve your criterion? This is their
value premise and criterion, which escape-hatch in the second affirmative
rebuttal that they can use to win. You
value premise and criterion is the
should attack those arguments as well as
most appropriate for the resolution?
compare the arguments you are winning
Remember from our basketball analogy
to the arguments they are winning and
that if one side is talking about golf and
explain why your arguments outweigh
you’re talking about basketball, the
your opponent’s arguments.
arguments are not comparable. You
need to explain to the judge why your Finally, try to put yourself in the affirma-
value premise and criterion are the tive’s position for a moment and think about

which arguments you would use to design THE SECOND AFFIRMATIVE REBUTTAL
your rebuttal. What would you talk about? If AND CRYSTALLIZATION
you can identify some of those arguments in
your preparation time, you should make sure So by now you have responded to your op-
to address them in your negative rebuttal so ponent’s arguments, and your opponent has
that your opponent is less credible when your responded to your responses, and you have
opponent discusses the arguments you’ve al- responded to their responses. Now what? Is
ready defeated. This is called preempting an that the end of the round? There is one more
argument. element to a successful final rebuttal speech
There are different stylistic approaches to and that element is crystallization.

Crystals are clear, and crystallization is
this rebuttal. Some judges prefer that you give
clearing up the arguments of the debate so
your voting issues at the end of your speech.
that the judge can make a decision. When
Some judges prefer that you give your voting
we stop and think for a moment, debaters re-
issues as you go through the arguments, or
ally need to put all the individual arguments
down the flow. In either case, you will be do-
together for the judge. Debate rounds have
ing the exact same thing. The only difference
many diverse arguments and some of them
is when you say the words “voting issue.” If you
are more important than other arguments,
have a sense that your judge prefers the end-
of-the-speech approach, try to save yourself
about two minutes at the end of this rebuttal
to cover your voting issues and really try to You should aim for about three voting issues.
persuade your judge that they should negate
Selecting more than three voting issues
the resolution. If you’re giving the voting is-
sues as you go, make certain that you get to all often gets confusing and each issue gets less
of the voting issues you want to give and that developed or explained because you only
you are really doing a good job of making sure
have six minutes for the entire rebuttal.
your arguments achieve your criterion and
value premise.
In general, you should aim for about three
voting issues. Selecting more than three voting i.e., offense vs. defense, or arguments that are
issues often gets confusing and each issue gets logically prior to another argument, etc. The
less developed or explained because you only judge needs some coherent way to put them
have six minutes for the entire rebuttal. all together to be able to decide who won the

49
debate. “Putting it all together for the judge” win the debate round. Generally speaking,
is called crystallization. Crystallization is the you will want to select 2-3 voting issues.
most important part of your last speech. When you are affirmative, and the neg-
Voting issues should be arguments, not ative has done his or her job well by outlin-
general ideas. At first glance, you might think ing some voting issues, your 2AR should re-
that there isn’t a difference between arguments spond to the negative voting issues and offer
and ideas, but really, there is a distinction be- some of your own. When you are negative,
tween the two. The distinction is important. you should select voting issues that advance
An argument is a claim, with a warrant or two, your position and tip the balance in your di-
and a connection or impact back to the crite- rection. Hopefully, you will also be able to
rion. A general idea is like a topic, or a con- leave the affirmative with nothing to say in
cept, or something of the sort. You will want their last speech, because your issue selec-
to choose your voting issues with some care tion was terrific. If the round has been clear
and also select issues that you are “winning.” and you have had direct clash with your op-
A voting issue is not: “the values.” ponent’s position, your voting issues will be
The voting issues you select should be clear- similar, but conclude differently. While that
ly connected to the criteria, (either affirma- may rarely happen, when it does, it is ideal
tive, negative or both). Explain to the judge because the focus makes the judge’s job much
how the arguments relate with other argu- easier. In general, try to remember that you
ments in the round, or weigh the arguments are trying to persuade your judge to vote for
for the judge. Remember our basketball anal- your side of the resolution. This means that
ogy? Why is the three point shot better than you will need to be constantly talking about
the two point shot? In selecting your voting the terms in the resolution whether they are
issues you should pick the arguments that are civil disobedience, capital punishment, emi-
you are winning, or need to win, for you to nent domain, or health care.

UNIT 6
Go with the flow: taking notes
and tracking arguments
D
ebaters often use verbal short hand for a lot of debate concepts such as “war-
rant” instead of “the reasons why a claim is true,” “value premise,” instead of
“the goal that the debater is trying to achieve,” impact, extension, turn, and
many others. How can you keep track of all this stuff? Debaters have developed a
system of note taking, or written shorthand, to record what was said in a debate
and keep track of things as they occur in a debate round. These notes, or shorthand
outlines of what was said in a debate, is called the flow.
The flow is really important for debaters the development of arguments from the first
and the judge. The flow is a record of the ar- speech to the last. When done well, the flow
guments made in a debate. The flow portrays captures all the arguments made and missed

51
on both the negative and affirmative sides. In when you are going to flow a round, get out
short, the flow can help debaters and the judge two pieces of paper, (legal pads work really
remember what is going on and what went on well for this because they are longer than reg-
in a particular round. The flow demonstrates ular 8.5x11” paper). At first, to visually help
how arguments interrelate with one another, you organize the sides, you might even want
to the criterion, as well as the voting issues in to try writing affirmative arguments in one
the round. color ink, and negative arguments in another
Successful debaters and judges use the flow color ink. Some students determine after a few
to record arguments. While flowing is a skill attempts at flowing that constantly switching
that improves with practice, here are a few pens wastes time. However, if you are likely
rules of thumb to assist you in flowing a de- to be confused by which arguments are yours
bate round. and which arguments are your opponent’s,
First, you will want to use a single side of a stick with two colors.
piece of paper for each side in the debate. So Use abbreviations for words and terms that

you use often, so you don’t have to spend all about the citation so you can look it up when
your time writing down a word. For example, you get home or share arguments with your
C.G. for common good, J for justice, = for friends and teammates.
equality, ! for impact, and so on. Second, avoid the trap of focusing on writ-
You should devise your own system of ab- ing everything down and not listening criti-
breviations and symbols. A list of possible cally to your opponent’s position. With some
symbols is included in the appendix. Remem- practice, you will be able to write down your
ber, whatever system of abbreviation you use,
make sure you are consistent. You need to be
able to read your flow during the round. One
of the worst things that could happen to you The flow demonstrates how arguments
in a debate is for you to get up for your rebut- interrelate with one another, to the criterion,
tal and not be able to read your flow. When in
doubt, write down enough so you know your
as well as the voting issues in the round.
opponent’s arguments. You will also want to
keep your flows after the round so you can
go back home and practice with them. Af- opponent’s argument and immediately write
ter a tournament, it is always a good idea to down your responses to that argument so you
go back over your flows and see which argu- can save your prep time for more important
ments you had difficulty responding to, and things. To save some time, and prevent carpal
research answers to those arguments or ask tunnel syndrome, try eliminating the vow-
someone to help you with them. You should els of words you write down. For example, if
also see if there are common responses made your opponent makes the argument that civil
to your case. Are there any arguments you can disobedience functions as a reciprocal check
put in your case for the next tournament that
against society, you might write:
would help you deal with those arguments in
CD = rcprcl chk vs soc
the future? Finally, many debaters share what
they’ve heard argued on the topic so that ev- Third, pre-flow your case position on the
eryone can become better prepared on the left margin of the paper before you enter your
arguments. If you decide to do this, you will debate round. You will know what side you
want to keep as detailed of a flow as possible. are on, so don’t waste your judge’s time by
Specifically, if your opponent reads evidence pre-flowing your case once you arrive. Mar-
in their case, you will want to try to get down gins are very important in flowing. Since there
the author’s name and anything else they read will be responses to you case, and you’ll make

53
responses to those responses, and possibly, your argument and show the judge why it is
your opponent will make responses to those important to the debate!
responses, you will need space on your page In short, flowing comes with practice.
to write them all down. Some people like to Watching rounds is always a good idea. If
draw lines to create columns for each speech. you watch the other debaters on your team
If this helps, feel free to do it. At the top of or even elimination rounds that you are not
your two sheets of paper would look like participating in, you should always be flow-
something like this: ing. In most cases, they’ve done something
Fourth, when your opponent responds that a bunch of judges thought was good so
to your case, write down their responses you should be trying see whether you can take
near your argument. some of their ideas and arguments, and adapt
them into your own. As a caveat, however,
For example, let’s look back to our civil dis-
just because something is winning does NOT
obedience resolution. Let’s say that the affir-
make it good to emulate. Talk to coaches and
mative value premise is morality, and the cri-
judges to see what practices are best to repeat
terion is individual conscience. Let’s also say
and which ones you should avoid. While most
that the negative argued that the affirmative
debaters in elimination rounds are great role
couldn’t justify civil disobedience by looking
models, some might not be and their style
at one individual but rather had to look to jus-
may not work for you or the judges you will
tify it for everyone in society as a general prin-
encounter. Be smart about what choices you
ciple. Your flow could look like this:
make. Regardless, flowing rounds will always
Figure X>X be helpful. Talk to varsity debaters about how
Notice that there is no response to the ar- they learned to flow. Flow as many rounds as
gument that the negative made against the af- you can, and when you are taking notes in
firmative criterion. If you were negative, you class, try using abbreviations and symbols to
would want to point that out, as well as extend set your system straight.

UNIT 7
Delivery
H
ow you speak and present is oftentimes as important, if not more important,
than the content of the presentation. In constructing speeches, inexperienced de-
baters frequently place too much emphasis on the substance of what they have
to say. They think that the content will carry the speech. But content is only one element
of good speaking. Audiences, and therefore judges, often tune out speeches full of
good ideas because the speaker failed to engage and hold their attention. There are
a variety of factors that constitute good delivery especially in debate. While there is no
perfect recipe, let’s focus on a few key ideas that will get you started on the right foot.
VOCAL VARIETY keeps the judge and the audience connected
to your speech throughout the presentation.

Vocal variety refers to the change in your vo-
cal tone while you are speaking. Vocal variety No one wants to listen to monotonous de-

55
livery and most people don’t do it naturally. work your way down to your lowest, finding
However, when we read something, especially where you are most comfortable. Some peo-
aloud, we tend not to communicate the same ple are comfortable with a wide range, others
way we do when we are in a conversation. Take with a much smaller range. Have someone lis-
a moment to listen to your classmates, your ten to you to help you determine where your
teacher, or your parents by paying attention, midrange is and where your upper and lower
just for a moment to the vocal variety they thresholds should be when you are delivering
exhibit. Having vocal variety involves many a case or giving a rebuttal.
facets, including varying pitch, rate, and em-
phasis. Once your have finalized your debate
RATE
cases, you should analyze it for vocal variety
and practice it using variations in pitch, rate, Rate means how quickly or how slowly you
and emphasis. speak. Most of the time, you’ll be using a nor-
mal conversational tone that anyone would
PITCH understand. If you’re reading this paragraph in
your head, this is about the speed that you will
Pitch is an important part of speaking clear- speak it aloud. This is a normal pace at which
ly and effectively. Experiment with the highs most people speak and at which most people
and lows of your voice to hear how you sound will understand you.
when you are discussing a particular idea. Pitch Obviously, some people speak faster than
often demonstrates emotion. For example, others and some speak slower. As a debater,
speakers usually tell humorous anecdotes us- you should aim for somewhere in the middle
ing a higher pitch, while they present dramat- so that you can appeal to any judge. Speaking
ic stories using a lower pitch. So, you should too quickly or too slowly creates problems for
use pitch to guide the audience as to how they your judges. Some debaters speak very quickly
should be feeling about the information you so that they can get as many arguments in a
are presenting. If you are talking about some- speech as possible, but in so doing they may
thing serious such as how civil disobedience sacrifice a judge and/or an opponent’s under-
was used to fight oppression, you are probably standing of the argument. While it is less of a
talking in a lower register of your voice. problem to see debaters speak too slowly, this
You can resolve pitch problems by experi- is also a problem. Judges are used to hearing
menting with the highs and lows of register. people speak at a conversational rate so speak-
Think of speaking a scale. Begin by saying the ing below this threshold will make them impa-
syllable “la” at your highest pitch and then tient and potentially bored.

Hopefully it’s very clear that in a timed ing underlining for words or phrases that need
event such a debate, you must make every to be emphasized.
word count whether it is in a case or a rebuttal. Regardless of which method you choose,
To do so you should pay careful attention to mark up the script as you read the piece
how you are presenting each particular word out loud. Don’t try to do this while read-
or sentence. One way to accomplish this is ing silently.
by going through your case and identifying in
advance which words you want said at a high
EYE CONTACT
pitch and which are said at a lower pitch, where
you will go faster or slower, and what words or Eye contact is a crucial aspect of effective de-
concepts you will emphasize. You can mark livery, helping you connect with the audience.
up your cases however you wish. For example, It helps the judge feel the emotions and pas-
if you use a computer you can color-code high sion that you want them to feel. Yet debaters
and low pitch. Or you can mark up a script us- often have trouble using eye contact effective-

57
ly. Below are a few tips for developing excel- careful, you may be remembered for being
lent eye contact: the ‘fidgety one’ instead of the one with the
Make it deliberate: Eye contact should be great ideas. In contrast, being in control of
purposeful. Determine beforehand when you one’s body language indicates that you are ful-
want to make direct eye contact with the audi- ly equipped to deal with the pressures of the
ence. Since you are often reading your case, you competitive environment.
may want to have specific places where you look Your stance, movement, gestures, and facial
up from your text to make deliberate eye contact. expressions all play important roles in deliver-
In rebuttals, this is often easier because you are ing an effective speech.
speaking extemporaneously but don’t forget to
deliberately make eye contact with your judge.
STANCE
Make it useful: Use eye contact to see how
judges are responding to your speech. Even Debaters often underestimate how much their
when judges don’t want to, they tend to make posture conveys to an audience. If you have
facial expressions (nodding their head one di- excellent posture, your audience will perceive
rection or another, smiling, frowning, etc). Use you as knowledgeable, open, and engaging.
this feedback. A word of caution, however: Conversely, if you fail to carry yourself well
judges may make involuntarily facial expres- by slouching, leaning, or shifting your weight,
sions that don’t indicate how they feel about you appear less experienced, less confident,
your arguments. You should not let a judge’s less trustworthy, or less capable.
facial expressions throw you off but try to pay The formula for excellent posture is fairly
attention and accommodate if you can by ex- simple. Stand with your feet shoulder width
plaining an argument in different terms or apart and your chin parallel to the ground.
spending more time discussing your reasoning. Place your hands loosely at your sides; shoulders
should be relaxed but also straight. Your weight
BODY LANGUAGE should be evenly balanced between your legs to
avoid leaning or shifting. You should feel like
Body language can either significantly add to you are standing straight if there is less curva-
or detract from your presentation. Uncon- ture to your spine. If you don’t feel that slight
scious gestures such as crossing your hands or tension in your back, you may be slouching.
feet or slouching can signal that you are inse- Your hands should hang loosely at your
cure or passive. Tidying yourself or playing side. Your palms should rest against the side
with pens or items of jewelry tends to distract of the speaker’s leg unless they are using their
audiences and judges. In fact, unless you are arms to actively make a deliberate gesture.

Frequently, debaters believe that if their arms as words or movement. They can be extreme-
are out of the way, then they are less distract- ly beneficial in emphasizing points, or they
ing to judges and audience members. The op- can be incredibly distracting if you use them
posite is actually true. You should never place mindlessly or improperly. Aim to make them
your hands behind your back or crossing them natural and relaxed, enhancing the words of
in front of your torso. It’s also rare that your the speech.
hands would touch each other because you When speaking with one another, we natu-
a reading or holding notes but certainly pay rally use hand gestures to enhance what we are
attention to what your hands are doing even saying. During competition, however, debat-
when they are at your sides. ers have a tendency to over plan each gesture,
making them too mechanical, They can be-
come distracting and give the judges and audi-
MOVEMENT ences the impression that there is no thought
or meaning behind them.
While there is no rule against walking during
Gestures should be an extension of your
a debate round, moving is often distracting for
body. Always gesture in the center of your
the judge because they are looking up and down
body, or the Gesture Zone. Gesturing above
throughout your speech as they are taking
your head or below your waist is distracting
notes. So, when they look up at you, you might
because it requires the audience to look away
not be in the same place that you were before
from your face. This actually creates a discon-
and then it takes time and mental effort for
nection between you and your words.
them to adjust. By staying stationary, you also
You can find your gesture zone by first plac-
avoid having to walk with your cases or notes in
ing your hands at your sides. Next, turn your
a precarious balancing act. Nothing would be wrists up and lift your arms until the elbow
worse than dropping your papers mid-speech. and arm create a ninety-degree angle, an “L”
The reason you see other students using move- at your elbow. With palms down, move your
ment in their speeches is because it is a memo- hands back and forth to get a feel for where
rized performance and judges are writing much the low end of your gestures should be locat-
less than they would in a debate round. ed. Most likely, judges and audience members
won’t see movements below this level.
GESTURES Next, turn your wrists so that both palms
face inward. Lift and lower your hands to feel
Hand gestures are an important component of the sides of the gesture zone. To determine the
your presentation; they are just as meaningful width of each gesture, move your arms back

59
and forth while holding your forearms paral- eyes, even eyebrows—to demonstrate emo-
lel to the ground. Pay particular attention to tion. A furrowed brow or a look of concern
how far your arms extend. This is where your can indicate that the issues you are discussing
longest gesture should reach during a perfor- are, in fact, important, and ought to be attend-
mance. Finally, place your arms at chest level; ed to by all members of the audience. Your
this is the top of the gesture zone. Gestures mouth can be extremely expressive. Frowning
above this area have a tendency to appear over or staying tight-lipped can convey stress, frus-
the top or exaggerated. tration, anxiety, or anger. Obviously, smiling
Experiment with the hand movements that makes listeners feel happy or at ease but be
best meet the language and requirements of careful not to smile at inappropriate periods.
your speech. But don’t plan them out or for- Former President George W. Bush made this
mat them to the words of your speech or you mistake during a presidential debate when he
will look unnatural. smiled while talking about the death penalty.
Occasionally you might use the same ges- While most people don’t believe he was actu-
ture every time, but in most cases, this appears ally happy about enforcing the death penalty,
contrived and robotic. smiling appeared inappropriate. Facial expres-
sions can be particularly important during
cross-examination since they influence judges’
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
perceptions of both the questioner and the re-
Facial expressions are yet another way you use spondent. In these situations, a confident air
nonverbal communication in your presenta- and a smile can help convince audience mem-
tion. They are the key to showing the audience bers that you are a truly assured speaker. Facial
how they should feel about what you are say- expressions matter because they convey to the
ing. Expressions demonstrate basic and more judge what the speaker herself thinks about
complex emotions such as anger, happiness or what she’s saying. A speaker who uses effective
sadness and involve the audience in the speech facial expressions has the potential to sway a
itself. You can use many parts of your face— judge who is not taking diligent notes.

UNIT 8
Sample Affirmative Case
T
he following example case was written by Veronica Toledo, Apple Valley HS
(MN), on the January/February topic of 2006, Resolved: the use of the state’s
power of eminent domain to promote private enterprise is unjust. Put simply, the
resolution asked whether the government could remove people from their homes and
businesses if there was a better economic use for their land. In affirming the resolu-
tion, Veronica suggests that eminent domain unfairly effects poor people and is thus
unjust. At the 2006 Tournament of Champions, Veronica was the 4th speaker and
placed 6th overall. She was also the NFL National runner-up in Expository Speaking
at the 2006 National Tournament.

61
For half a century, unrestrained governments have taken private prop-
In her introduction, Veronica
tells the story of Mr. Andrew erty not for “public uses”—such as for bridges or schools—as permitted by
Archie to personalize the resolu-
tion for the judge and give con- the Constitution, but for private businesses in the name of “economic de-
text to the conflict.
velopment.” Private homes and businesses have been bulldozed, replaced
by newer businesses and homes owned not by the public, but by private,
She also states the resolution.
politically powerful individuals and corporations. Andrew Archie, a man
in his late 60’s who was diabetic and in poor health, fought against the
condemnation of the home he had lived in since his childhood, to transfer
it at a bargain-basement price to another private party: Nissan, to build
a car dealership. In defense of people like Mr. Archie, I affirm the reso-
lution: Resolved: The use of the state’s power of eminent domain to pro-
mote private enterprise is unjust.
Here, she provides a definition For clarity I offer the following definitions:
of eminent domain from Black’s
Law Dictionary to contextual-
ize the term. Eminent domain: the power of the state to take private property for
public use by the state, municipalities, and private persons or corporations
authorized to exercise functions of public character. The power is limited
to taking for a public purpose and prohibits the exercise of the power of
eminent domain without just compensation to the owners of the property
which is taken (Black’s Law 4th Ed)
The context of the resolution asks us to evaluate the justness of a specif-

Veronica suggests that since the
resolution uses the term “just” in ic state action. Therefore, I value a just government.
relationship to the state, the ap-
propriate value premise is a just
government. Professor of Economics, T Nicolaus Tideman explains the concept of
Evidence that explains and clari- justice:
fies your value premise is always
a great idea. With this evidence,
Veronica is suggesting that people T. Nicolaus Tideman [Professor of Economics at Virginia Polytech-
tend to agree about what should
constitute justice. And she notes nic Institute and State University, “Takings, Moral Evolution, and Justice”
that equality is an important com-
ponent of justice. Notice that the Columbia Law Review, vol 88, no 8, December 1988 pg. 1715]
evidence has a complete source
citation so that anyone can track
down the evidence that she is
To the extent that it is accessible to human understanding, “justice”
reading. This should be true for all can be defined as the consensus that people reach about who should be
of your evidence.
You may have noticed that por-

disappointed when expectations are incompatible. This definition makes
tions of her evidence are under- justice not absolute, but relative to the group that reaches a consensus and
lined while other portions are
to the presuppositions of their discourse. To be communicable and usable,

proposals for dealing with issues must not be as amorphous as, “Maximize
not. Time constraints require
some quotations to be short- total utility.” The most important foundation of any theory of justice is a
ened. It is standard practice to
underline portions of excerpts recognition of equality.
that you will read instead of
deleting those words. This way,
her opponent and judge can be In order to determine whether a just government exists, we must assess
assured that she is not removing
any words that change the con- whether it arbitrarily or capriciously treats people differently. Therefore,
clusion of the author.
my criterion is equal treatment. Put simply, government actions can not
In this segment, Veronica out-
lines her criterion. She suggests disproportionately harm one portion of the population to advantage an-
that if one group is treated dif-
ferently for no good reason, the other segment or the society as a whole. This is validated by our moral
government is acting unjustly.
Notice the example of slavery to intolerance to slavery. Even if the action benefits others or the entire econ-
support her claim.
omy, it subordinates one group to another and thus violates the first obli-
gation of a just government: equal treatment.
A thesis statement, just like in My thesis is that eminent domain for the purpose of economic devel-
an essay, encapsulates your main
argument (or position) into one opment is unjust because it violates equal treatment by enslaving the poor-
sentence. Notice how Veronica’s
thesis includes the resolutional est citizens.
terms, her value premise, and
criterion.
First, in principle, takings target the poor and powerless. Intuitively,
This is her first major argument
or contention. She uses allitera- it is easier for the state to take land from impoverished areas where the
tion to hammer home her argu-
ment. In this case, she refers to value of the land is low so the state can cheaply acquire the land and turn
the legal synonym involved with
eminent domain, a “taking.” a higher profit.
She begins with a claim that
poor land is inexpensive. In her December 2004 amicus curiae brief filed with the Clerk of the
To warrant her argument, she Supreme Court, Number 04-108 and available online (http://www.ij.org/
uses a well-known author on the
subject of eminent domain, Jane pdf_folder/private_property/kelo/jacobs05.pdf ) in the case of Kelo vs.
Jacobs.
New London, urban policy scholar, Jane Jacobs, argues why eminent do-
You may notice that this evi-
dence also brings up additional main for private enterprise treats poor people unequally and unjustly.
reasons why eminent domain
or takings harm the poor: they
have little lobbying power.
The properties of poor and politically weak owners are more likely tar-
geted for condemnation than those of wealthy and influential ones. The
Poletown neighborhood, for example, may have been targeted in part be-
cause its people were “largely lower-income and elderly” and many “as-
sumed that these people would not have the resources or the know-how
to fight back.” Relatively affluent citizens and major corporations have
far greater political influence than the poor do. Thus it is not surprising
that the poor often chosen for condemnation that benefit wealthy cor-

63
porations and developers. Affluent corporate and developer interests are
“repeat players” in the eminent domain system who have the resources and
expertise to lobby effectively in support of their objectives. Poor and lower
middle class property owners, by contrast, have little ability or incentive to
develop similar lobbying power.
This is Veronica’s second main
argument or contention. Again,
Second, in practice, when the condemnation is classist, the disadvan-
she uses alliteration to impress
upon the judge the problems
taged are disenfranchised.
with eminent domain. Here she
uses another legal synonym for The use of the state’s power of eminent domain is used to principally
eminent domain, condemna-
tion. attack the poor and remove them from the locality. A segment of the pop-
Her claim here is that poor cit- ulation is not permitted to vote when they are displaced from their homes.
izens are grouped together and
they are unable to organize to
change the law. Jacobs continues:
When using an author you have
already cited, it is permissible to African-American and other minority property owners are also par-
simply read their name.
ticularly likely to be targeted by economic development condemnations.
In this evidence, Ms. Jacobs uses
a historical example to describe Between 1949 and 1963, sixty-three percent of all families displaced by
eminent domain uses in the
past. Veronica selected this evi- urban renewal condemnations were non-white. Racial and class bias have
dence to give historical context
to her argument. continued to infect more recent condemnations as well. As one study
In this part of the evidence, she finds: In essence, the power and internal pressures [of the condemnation
suggests that gentrification is
what pushes people out of one process] create a mandate to gentrify selected areas, resulting in a de facto
area into another, specifically
into a place where the politician concentration of poverty elsewhere, preferably outside the decision mak-
that ousted them does not need
to fear a political backlash. ers’ jurisdiction. Numerous past experiences indicate that the process
Notice the use of phrases here has been driven by racial animosity as well as by bias against the poor.
such as “entertainment choices”
and “downtown elites.” These The net result is that a neighborhood of poor people is replaced by office
create clear pictures in the
judge’s mind about what we are towers, luxury hotels, or retail centers. The former low-income residents,
actually valuing.
displaced by the bulldozer or an equally effective increase in rents, must
relocate into another area they can – perhaps – afford. The entire process
can be viewed as a strategy of poverty concentration and geographical
containment to protect the property values – and entertainment choices
– of downtown elites.
Here she clearly impacts her The results are clear: This continually consolidates the poor into simi-
argument by suggesting that
eminent domain creates areas of lar areas creating urban slums, ghettos, and blight. Resulting from urban
poverty. She also connects the
renewal policies in the 1950s and 60s, this creates a need for new takings

now. Since poor people tend to live in blighted areas, it is impossible for
historical example from earlier
to suggest that run-down areas them to challenge the takings in court when it uses the standard of blight.
from the past would be targeted
today. This evidence and impact
was very important in Veron- Finally, eminent domain creates a continual cycle of crimes against the
ica’s first affirmative rebuttal
because it suggests that because poor.
poor people live in run-down
areas and the test for whether
eminent domain is permissible Paul Boudreaux writes that the use of eminent domain creates a race
is if the area is run-down, poor
people can never challenge the to the bottom in which governments are constantly encouraged to attract
taking in court.
wealthy businesses and citizens.
In her third main argument or
contention. In this segment, she
uses alliteration and metaphor Paul Boudreaux [Assistant Professor, Stetson University College of
to suggest that eminent domain
is a criminal action. Law, Eminent Domain, Property Rights, and the Solution of Representa-
In her claim, she also integrates tion Reinforcement, 83 Denv. U.L. Rev. 1, 2005 pg. 18]
her evidence to make the argu-
ment seamless. Here she sug-
gests that an incentive to remove Laws adopted ostensibly to help the public are in reality the masked use
poor citizens exists.
of government to help one group at the expense of others–be it business
In this part of the evidence she
selects, she ties together the re- interests who are helped by regulation of their competitors or outdoor
al-world examples and the the-
oretical reasoning of her argu- enthusiasts aided by laws restricting private development in parklands.
ment that cities are attempting
to attract wealthier citizens. n112 From another perspective, political scientist Paul Kantor has argued
Here she explains that lowering persuasively that many local governments are no longer in charge of their
costs to business makes it more
likely that businesses will come destinies. n113 Stung by movement of wealth and jobs to favored suburbs,
to town and that’s why govern-
ments are encouraged to use
many American cities have become desperate to retain and attract busi-
eminent domain.
nesses and tax bases. As localities vie for business, governments become
victims of a ruthless “market” in which the demand–the number of com-
peting localities–greatly exceeds the supply of attractive and job-creating
companies. n114 To lower the cost of doing business in their communi-
ties, cities are encouraged to take steps such as [*19] giving tax breaks,
curbing regulations, and lowering the cost of land through creative use of
eminent domain. n115
This is yet another reason why In recent years, governments have moved beyond using their pow-
governments have an incentive
to target poorer citizens. In de- ers merely to attract business. Localities also understand that attracting
bate, we call this an indepen-
dent warrant. wealthy residents is financially beneficial for the local budgets. n116 Not
only do wealthier citizens usually pay more in property taxes, they also
typically demand fewer government services–they tend to have fewer chil-
dren who need public schools, they tend to get involved with crime less of-

65
ten, and they tend to need fewer government health services and emergen-
cy assistance. n117 As a result, today’s local governments are encouraged
not only to use eminent domain to shape the climate for business, but also
to try to shape the composition of their citizenry. Encouraging wealthier
citizens is, of course, nothing new for local governments. Since the early
days of zoning, localities have used their land use power for “exclusionary
zoning,” which discourages the poor, through techniques such as restrict-
ing apartment construction and requiring that new houses must sit on
The last line of the evidence
large, and thus expensive, lots. n118 Eminent domain raises the stakes by
powerfully concludes her point: giving government the disturbing ability to jettison existing poorer citi-
governments will jettison, or
evict, their poor citizens to at- zens from the community.
tract rich ones.
Finally, Veronica chooses to While eminent domain is primarily intended for economic develop-
make one last argument as a
strategic decision. In many of ment, there are less intrusive means of doing so. Other methods of pro-
her affirmative debates, she no-
ticed that negatives would argue moting private enterprise exist that are as successful as well as more just
that eminent domain was neces-
sary for economic growth and than eminent domain.
vitality of a community. In order
to save herself time in the first
affirmative rebuttal, she chose John Norquist (President of the Congress for New Urbanism, Amicus
to add this argument to the end
of her case, which proves that Curae Brief filed for Kelo v. New London, page 13, 2005) argues, “Other
there are many ways to attract
businesses without targeting common and effective government incentives [to promote private enter-
poor people.
prise] are zoning and density allowances to attract corporate relocation
This evidence suggests alterna-
tives to eminent domain that and to increase the economic feasibility of the desired development. This
exist without removing citizens
from their homes.
regulatory form of incentive can be further augmented by fast-track regu-
Notice that this evidence is both
latory processes for desired types of development, including one-stop per-
offensive and defensive. mitting programs where a staff person is assigned specifically to shepard
It is defensive because it can be targeted types of projects efficiently through the administrative process.
used to suggest that eminent do-
main is not necessary to achieve
economic growth or promote Waivers and rebates of fees are also substantial regulator incentives.
private enterprise.
Direct financial assistance is common in the form of property tax abate-
It is offensive because she can
argue later that because other ments, bond financing, low interest loans, infrastructure improvements,
options exist and eminent do-
main targets the poor, it would or utility rate incentives. The list of examples could go on and on and it
be unjust for a government to
select the harmful option. illustrates the “let’s make a deal” ability of local government to work with
a developer to make the economics of a desired project work.
The public sector therefore has many tools at its disposal to foster re-
development and economic development. Land assembly is just one of

them, and there are many techniques to facilitate land assembly without
resort to eminent domain, including contribution of surplus government
property, land exchanges or swaps between the public and private sectors,
and relocation assistance from the public sector for owners or spaces users
in the property slotted for development.”
Finally, Veronica concludes Because other modes of promoting economic development that are
quickly with reference to the
resolution and her position. less intrusive than eminent domain exist, eminent domain is unjust be-
cause it ignores the possibilities of alternatives that do not harm the poor
unequally.

67
UNIT 9
Sample Negative Case
T
he following example case was written by Elizabeth Mullins, Sacred Heart
HS (MA), on the NFL Nationals topic of 2006, Resolved: in matters of mili-
tary intelligence, the ends justify the means. Put simply, the resolution asked
whether the government could use questionable methods in order to obtain military
intelligence. In negating the resolution, Liz suggests that the use of these questionable
means actually disrespects people. At the 2006 NFL National Tournament, Elizabeth
placed second.

69
“Yet ends, we all know, do not justify any means, both because ends are
Elizabeth selects a broad quota-
tion to begin her negative case. contingent and uncertain, and because there are other ends in the world
She foreshadows her position
by choosing some evidence that besides the ones we have most recently chosen. I have only tried to suggest
equates the affirmative position
with crime. that such choices ought to be worrying and that they have their moral lim-
its: there come moments when the sheer criminality of the means adopted
by one side or another overwhelms and annuls all righteous intentions.”
Because I agree with Richard Wasserstrom [War and Morality, 1970,

pg. 61], I negate.
Liz provides us with a reason Since national security only matters if we recognize the reason we keep
why she has selected her value
premise of ‘respect for human people alive, my value is respect for human worth, which means recog-
worth’ that relates to the dilem-
ma of the resolution. nizing the basic capacities that differentiate humans from objects.
She also links her criterion to As this requires limiting what others can do to individuals, my criteri-
the value premise and gives us a
very specific way to evaluate her on is preserving checks on state power. Preserving checks on state power
arguments.
means placing concrete limits on what the state may do to individuals.
Notice that both of these young My thesis is that prioritizing the intelligence collection’s ends over its
ladies chose to use a thesis at
very different tournaments. This means lets the state commit whatever rights violations it deems fit, deni-
is a very helpful advanced strat-
egy to encapsulate your main grating respect for worth.
point for the judge.
Liz anticipates her opponent’s My first contention is that because there is no clear limit for what
arguments in the first conten-
tion by suggesting that an ends- “collecting military intelligence” entails, affirming makes it impossible to
based approach will go too far.
check violations of human worth.
She uses a few examples here to Any moral system must recognize that individuals have rights. This
explain her point.
doesn’t mean rights are absolute; we can restrict the person who yells
“fire!” in a crowded theater because she poses a clear and present danger to
others, and we can limit the liberty of convicted criminals because we’ve
Here, she provides evidence for
her argument that the govern- given them due process. In contrast, when we authorize the state to collect
ment can concoct any rationale
to limit rights and the more military intelligence, we remove these kinds of limits on state action: the
likely that those measures will
get out of control. government need not provide a benefit back to the person harmed, nor
find an objective reason to restrict his rights. Professor Oren Gross con-
firms, [“Are Torture Warrants Warranted? Pragmatic Absolutism and Of-
ficial Disobedience, Minnesota Law Review, 88 Minn. L. Rev. 1481, June
2004, pg. 1509-10] “The clearer the distinction and division between “us”

and “them” and the greater the threat “they” pose to “us,” the greater is
She also suggests again that the
affirmative can’t guarantee that our willingness to accept use of more radical measures by the government
valuable security interests will
be achieved. against “them.” We allow for more repressive measures when we believe
that those will not be turned against us in the future.” Moreover, the ends
the affirmative claims are speculative, since the information may prove
useless. Violations of worth for such marginal or non-existent benefits are
unjustified.
My second contention is that the use of harmful means to collect

Notice that Liz associates the
affirmative with harmful means intelligence is uncheckable because it necessarily escalates, disrespecting
as she makes her argument for
escalation. worth.
Once the means nations have previously used become public knowl-
edge, they are required to use new means so they can remain unpredict-
Her argument here is that once
we show our cards, we can’t bluff able and continue their intelligence collection. For example, if other na-
again. This means we need to
find new ways of getting infor- tions know that Pakistan has planted spies in the past, the country may
mation.
try other means, like blackmailing other countries to hand over intelli-
gence by torturing their citizens. Gross confirms (pg. 1505): “Even in the
post-September 11 world, terrorism’s most critical threat to democratic
regimes lies in provoking the target nations to overreact and employ au-
thoritarian measures, such as interrogational torture. In turn, such overre-
action may weaken further moral restraints against using force, discredit
This evidence suggests that not
only will measures escalate but the government domestically and internationally, or alienate segments of
also that it will undermine secu-
rity interests. the population from the government, thereby making it even harder to
wage the fight against terrorism successfully.”
Liz also quickly concludes by
putting one last phrase in the
When nations operate under an “anything goes” mindset, they believe
judge’s mind: “anything goes.” that so long as they obtain some information, the means are inconsequen-
This is an excellent way to de-
scribe the affirmative and can be tial. Since such a system makes it impossible to check the state and respect
used in later rebuttals.
worth, I negate.

71
UNIT 10
The Debate Round: A Timeline

73
What’s it called? How long is it? What’s going on?
The debater outlines reasons for why the resolution is valid as a general
Affirmative Case
Six minutes principle including a value premise, criterion, and arguments or conten-
Also called: 1AC, AC
tions.
Cross examination The negative stands and faces the judge. They ask a series of questions
Also called: CX or the Three minutes of the affirmative. This includes clarification questions and exposing the
cross logical flaws in the affirmative case.
Four minutes total

Preparation time
but about half is used The negative is preparing his or her attacks against the affirmative case.
Also called: prep time
here at the discretion of He or she may be writing answers or organizing evidence etc.
or down time
the negative
Seven minutes total but The debater outlines reasons for why the resolution is invalid as a
about half is spent in general principle including a value premise, criterion, and arguments or
Negative Constructive
case construction and contentions.
and Rebuttal
the other half spent at- Following his or her constructive, the negative replies to the affirmative
Also called: 1NC,
tacking the affirmative. arguments in the order they were presented exposing the logical flaws of
NC, NC/NR
(at the discretion of the the argument, and why the case fails to prove the resolution as a general
negative) principle.
The affirmative rises and faces the judge. He or she asks a series of
questions of the negative. This includes clarification questions and
Cross examination Three minutes
exposing the logical flaws in the negative case and the answers made to
the affirmative case.
Four minutes total.

Often, about half is The negative is preparing his or her attacks against the affirmative case.
Preparation Time
used here at the discre- The time can be used to write answers or organize evidence etc.
tion of the affirmative
Four minutes total

but about half is spent Typically, the affirmative will begin with the negative case and answer
First Affirmative answering the negative the arguments made in the order they were presented. After attempting
Rebuttal case and half is spent to answer every argument made by the negative, the affirmative will
Also called: 1AR or responding to attacks return to his or her case and respond to attacks made by the negative. In
AR against the affirmative general, it is a good idea to spend about two minutes on each side. This
case. (at the discretion allows adequate attention to each component of the debate.
of the affirmative)

The remaining balance

of the negative debat-
This time is used to take a look at all of the arguments made in the
er’s preparation time is
round thus far, and assess which arguments will win the debate for
used. For example, if
Preparation Time the negative. The time is usually spent thinking about the rela-
one minute was used
tionship between arguments, writing arguments, and organizing
prior to the negative
materials.
constructive, three
minutes remain now.
The Second Negative The negative will typically begin by replying to the attacks made against
Rebuttal the affirmative case. Recall that the affirmative has had a chance to
Also called: the 2NR, support these arguments so the negative will be responding to specific
the NR, or the 1NR affirmative attacks and demonstrating that the answers did not disprove
Note: there is some the response or that the original argument is still flawed. After dealing
discrepancy over with all of the arguments made against the affirmative case, the negative
whether the negative will return to his or her case and rebuild the negative position in light
constructive should also Six minutes of the attacks from the affirmative rebuttal. The negative will suggest
be called a rebuttal. For why the affirmative answers do not disprove the negative arguments and
the ease of explanation why they continue to prove the falsity of the resolution. The negative
and clarity, we call this debater is NOT permitted to make any answers to arguments he or
the second rebuttal but she did not already answer. The negative debater will also suggest some
you can call it whatever issues that the judge might consider in making their decision or “voting
you like. The speech issues.” They should be arguments related to the resolution and the
does not change. value premises or criteria in the debate.
The remaining balance

of the affirmative de-
This time is used to take a look at all of the arguments made in
bater’s preparation time
the round thus far and assess which arguments will win the debate
is used. For example, if
Preparation Time for the affirmative. The time is usually spent thinking about the
two minutes were used
relationship between arguments, writing arguments, and organizing
prior to the affirmative
materials.
rebuttal, two minutes
remain now.

75
The affirmative has a slight advantage in that no more negative speeches

may be made. Therefore, he or she is able to put together the strongest
defense of the affirmative position possible by accounting for all of
the existing negative attacks. In general, the entire affirmative’s second
Second Affirmative
rebuttal is devoted to voting issues as described above for the negative’s
Rebuttal Three minutes
second rebuttal. This is because there are only three minutes allotted
Also called: 2AR
for the speech. The debater should begin with a discussion of the value
premises and criteria in the debate and how the selected voting issues
they have selected relate to the value premises and criteria, as well as
why those arguments suggest that the judge should vote affirmative.

UNIT 11
Practice Suggestions and Drills for Debaters

77
Type Name Materials Description
Markup A case After you’ve finished with your final draft of cases, take out a few different colored
Different color pens and go through the printed copy. With one color pen, mark where you will
pens take pauses. Typically, this should occur at commas and periods. With another
colored pen, underline words or phrases you will want to stress as you’re speaking.
WHY? This helps to ensure that your cases aren’t monotonous and you are have
a visual reminder of where to pause or stress words.
Pen in A case (or Take a thin pen (Bic pens work well) and place it in your mouth lengthwise so
Delivery Drills
Mouth rebuttal) that the pen protrudes from both sides of your mouth. Try to put it as far back
A pen without choking. Begin reading your case or rebuttal as you normally would. It
(the thinner will sound pretty funny but continue reading with the pen in your mouth three
the better) times.
WHY? This improves your enunciation and articulation. Afterwards, take the
pen out of your mouth and deliver your case. You’ll notice that you naturally open
your mouth wider.
Videotap- Cases or rebut- Videotaping is a great way to see yourself as your judges see you. Videotape your
ing tals case and your rebuttals. A fun way to see if you repeat the same gestures or have
Video camera any subtle mannerisms, try hitting fast-forward while the tape is playing.
and videotape

The simplest of all rebuttal drills, the redo requires the student to take a rebuttal
they have already performed and prepare the rebuttal again. In general, the stu-
dent is given anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to think about answers
A flow from a
Rebuttal and find evidence. The student then either performs the rebuttal for an instructor
past round
Redos or for themselves. In either case, the rebuttal is said aloud in the allotted time for
A timer
the rebuttal. Every rebuttal can (and should) be redone. In each speech, the de-
bater should attempt to be more concise and more offensive. Better answers and
the use of evidence should always be encouraged.
The debater, in sequence, should do three drills designed to test the assumptions
behind the case. The first drill requires the debater to take the case and construct
Rebuttal Skills
one argument challenging the fundamental assumption of the case. This may take
some time but it will encourage debaters to consider the case position as a whole.
After making that argument, the debater should proceed to the second drill. In
this drill, the debater should make two arguments to each of the major parts of
the case (the value premise, criterion, and each of the contentions). The object
is to make it impossible for the opponent to recover from your attacks so while
A flow of any there are only going to be a total of about 8-10 answers, they should be the best
1-2-3
constructive answers possible. Finally, the debater should deliver a rebuttal where the goal is to
make three responses to every argument made by the opponent. The object here
is to improve conciseness as well as a line-by-line approach to the rebuttal. The
instructor or debater should pay attention to each argument in the constructive
and attempt to answer every possible argument.
WHY? The combination of all of these skills is what makes for a successful rebut-
tal. Practice attacking the assumption of the case, focusing on a few offensive an-
swers, as well as attack as many arguments as possible. This drill should emphasize
a balance between all approaches.

79
In this form of a rebuttal redo, the debater is allotted 3 minutes to complete a

1AR. They should begin by eliminating all defensive arguments and should elim-
inate any unnecessary phrases. The debater should be reminded that they are not
permitted to simply go faster. After the debater successfully completes the 3 min-
ute version, they must complete the same rebuttal in 2 minutes. Again, the goal
A flow of a past
is not to for the debater to go faster but rather to eliminate unnecessary phrases
Losing time rebuttal
and words and make the most offensive answers possible. In debate, the term for
A timer
this is word economy.
WHY? This identifies, for the debater, the extent of the unnecessary words and
phrases that they use and actually suggests that they can go slower in the 1AR and
Rebuttal skills
be very successful. The more often this drill is performed, the more successful the
debater will be on the affirmative.
Each time the debater uses a verbal crutch such as “like,” “um,” “at the point,” or
A flow of a past any other useless phrase, the debater is required to start the rebuttal over. Another
Start over
rebuttal option is to make the debater start over if the debater uses a defensive response
rather than an offensive response.
One person reads their case and another is required to give a rebuttal to it. The
next debater must also give a rebuttal to the case but is not permitted to use any of
the answers used before. Continue this process until stumped. Include the reader
One case and
Overload of the case. They should know where the flaws are!
many debaters
WHY? This will assist not only with coming up with a diversity of arguments but
also the case reader’s construction. They can accommodate the responses into the
case and make sure he or she has answers.

During oral arguments before the Supreme Court, lawyers are required to field
questions while presenting his or her case. Following this model, one debater
reads a case and other students are permitted to ask questions of the reader. The
debater reading the case should answer the question and return seamlessly to the
case. An instructor should be present to decide whether follow up questions are
Supreme A case and fel-
Cross-examination skills
permitted and to ensure that everyone has a chance to ask questions.

Court low debaters
WHY? The reader improves their case by fielding questions and integrating
stronger case arguments into their case. The reader also improves their cross-ex-
amination skills by staying in control and focused while attacked. The questioners
improve their cross-examination skills by attacking the logical chain of argument
as it is presented and questioning warrants specifically.
In this variation of the above rebuttal drill, the debater reads a case and afterwards
is cross-examined by the first opponent for five minutes. The second opponent
may again cross-examine for five minutes but can not ask any of the same ques-
A case and fel-
Overload tions (or question the same aspect of the case) as the previous questioner.
low debaters
WHY? The debater being questioned will have a great idea of all of the possible
ways someone might see his or her case position The questioners develop a diver-
sity of cross-examination strategies.

81
The acronym stands for value independent of resolution until screwed and was
devised by Mr. Yaverbaum over ten years ago. In this drill, the questioner asks the
case reader why their value premise is valuable; why it’s good. Taking their answer,
the questioner asks why that concept is valuable or good. This process continues
until the case reader contradicts themselves and in about 90% of cases this will
occur. Take the following example where an negative on the capital punishment
topic uses the value premise of justice and argues that capital punishment does
V.I.R.U.S.
not deter crime:
Courtesy A case and an
Cross-examination skills
Q: Why is justice valuable? A: Because it ensures individual rights.

Daniel opponent
Q: Why are individual rights valuable? A: Because they respect autonomy.
Yaverbaum
Q: Why is autonomy valuable? A: Because all people are rational agents and must
be respected for their ability to make choices.
Q: So if all people are rational and your argument against my case is that crimi-
nals are not deterred because they are irrational, doesn’t that contradict? A: Doh!
WHY? Try it out, in most cases there are principles and assumptions behind each
value premise that contradict the assumptions of other arguments made in the
round.
In this variation of the “overload” drill, the debater reads a case and the opponent
is given an unlimited amount of time to cross-examine the reader. It’s a good idea
to write down great strategies as you go because there’s a good chance that you
An argument,
Unlimited forget the questions or set of questions that led you to a useful conclusion.
case, etc. and
Cross WHY? The limited time for cross examination requires debaters to focus on
an opponent
particular issues rather than investigating all possible options. This drill designs
prepared questions that would be devastating to an opponent. It also promotes a
greater understanding of the arguments and how they relate.

There are many ways of approaching this drill. In one case, the debaters will reflow
their opponents’ cases from the last tournament in as much detail as possible. All
of the flows will be collated and shared with the team. Students will be assigned
the task of preparing rebuttal strategies and cross-examination strategies against
each of the cases. At the next practice session, the group shares what they have
Prepping Opponents’ come up with. Identifying common arguments will permit easy blocking assign-
cases cases ments and creation.
Miscellaneous Drills
WHY? This drill encourages debaters to collaborate on their work as well as

prepare as many possible answers to arguments that they may see in upcoming
rounds.
NOTE: Occasionally viewed by some as unethical, the authors believe this is
an indispensable method of instruction. If you disagree, please use other drills.
The two debaters begin the round as normal. During the NR, without advance
warning, the instructor calls time at their discretion. The negative debater drops
the bottom of the affirmative case. This will require not permitting the debaters
Two debaters to time themselves. The affirmative will then take advantage of the opponent’s
Recover and an instruc- error and extend the drop. The instructor should then call time again so that the
tor affirmative drops the bottom of the negative’s case.
WHY? The debaters focus on how to extend arguments and compare dropped
arguments. Inevitably, all debaters will drop arguments. The goal of this exercise
is to teach debaters how to cope with that mistake.

83
This drill asks students to begin by preparing and delivering their ideal 2AR.
Three minutes of the most powerful and compelling reasons to affirm the reso-
lution. The debater could presume that the negative dropped everything or just
assume that he or she is winning any argument. This should be the best 2AR
possible. After delivering the speech to the wall or to the instructor, the debater
takes a few minutes of prep, the debater should give a 2NR in 4 minutes that
Miscellaneous Drills
entirely preempts the 2AR. This means, the 2NR should approach the speech
knowing exactly what the 2AR is going to say and attempt to make the 2AR just
A timer, paper,
given, impossible. After a few minutes of prep, the debater should do the same
Debate pen, and basic
for what would be the 1AR in 4 minutes, which preempts (or makes impossible)
backwards understanding
the 2NR just given. One important consideration: the debater is not permitted
of the topic.
to repeat arguments. They must challenge the assumptions and make arguments
that would make the 1AR impossible. It is also important to note that they are
not constrained by any case positions.
WHY? This drill is perhaps the most instructive of all the drills presented here.
By going through the drill, debaters can identify the assumptions behind argu-
ments and reformat (or format) their cases to improve the quality of arguments.
As well, the debater can preempt arguments in the case as well as in the rebuttal,
making for stronger speeches.

APPENDIX A
Glossary of commonly used debate terminology
T
he following glossary includes definitions of over 120 terms that you may hear
in debate rounds or from other debaters. We have not provided these defini-
tions to suggest or prefer any specific type of debate but rather to give you
definitions of the terms so that you are aware of what the words mean if or when you
hear them. You should always consult with a coach or mentor in the activity when
selecting what types of arguments and strategies you decide to use. Where relevant,
these definitions conform to the most recently updated NFL Guidelines.

85
A priori The phrase literally means, “Without appeal to experience,” and is usually applied to knowl-
edge. The statement, “a bachelor is an unmarried man,” is an a priori statement because it is a
definition. Debaters use this phrase, incorrectly, to suggest that an argument is a first consid-
eration in the debate.
Advocacy The position that the affirmative or negative case defends. One’s advocacy is tied to not just the
resolution, but also the arguments made by the debater in the round. See also, advocacy shift.
Advocacy shift When a debater alters their position from the constructive in a rebuttal, it constitutes an ad-
Also called: shifting vocacy shift and is impermissible. The position offered in the constructive must be advocated
advocacy until the end of the debate. See also, moving target.
Affirmative The side of the debate that defends the resolution.
Agent of action The power indicated or inferred by the resolution to carry out resolutional action. In LD
resolutions, the agent of action is typically individuals, society, or the government.
AT Short-hand for “answers to”

Also called: A2
Awards ceremony An assembly where students are recognized for their performance.
Ballot The written record of the decision in the round. The ballot includes both the debaters’ names,
a place for their speaker points, and a place for the decision. What the ballot means or rep-
resents is a question in many advanced debates.
Big picture A rebuttal strategy that approaches the round from the major ideas and emphasizes a themat-
ic view of each position. The ‘big picture’ approach is often distinguished from the line-by-
line approach.
Block Multiple prepared responses to an argument, generally with evidence. See p.23
Blow up When one debater makes a big deal out of an argument by spending a lot of time on it.
Bracket The group of debaters with the same preliminary round record. In elimination rounds, the bracket
shows which debaters will face each other as the elimination rounds progress (i.e. the winners of the
top two brackets in quarterfinals face each other in semifinals).
Break To become eligible for elimination rounds. In order to break, the debater must have one of
Also called: clear, or the top preliminary round records. It is called “break” because you break through or advance
clearing to the next level.
Brief A prepared argument with evidence and arguments already structured on the page. See
also, block.

Bubble round The round that determines whether a debater will advance to elimination debates. For example,
in a seven round tournament, a student debating in the seventh round with a 4-2 record must
win in order to be considered for elimination rounds. Their round could be a bubble round.
Burden No question of values can be determined entirely true or false. This is why the resolution is
debatable. Therefore neither debater should be held to a standard of absolute proof. No de-
bater can realistically be expected to prove complete validity or invalidity of the resolution.
The better debater is the one who, on the whole, proves his/her side of the resolution more
valid as a general principle.
• Burden of proof: Each debater has the equal burden to prove the validity of his/her side
of the resolution as a general principle. As an LD resolution is a statement of value, there
is no presumption towards either side.
• Burden of clash: Each debater has an equal burden to clash with his/her opponent’s po-
sition. Neither debater should be rewarded for presenting a speech completely unrelated
to the arguments of his/her opponent.
• Resolutional burden: The debaters are equally obligated to focus the debate on the central
questions of the resolution, not whether the resolution itself is worthy of debate. Because
the affirmative must uphold the resolution, the negative must also argue the resolution as
presented.
Additionally, specific elements of arguments or case positions may create further burdens for
a particular debater. If one debater places a burden on themselves, it must be met in order to
win the debate. If one debater places a burden on another, it must either be met or the debater
must argue (and win) why they do not need to meet the burden to win the debate.
Case-turn A case-turn attacks the fundamental assumption of the affirmative or negative case and ar-
gues that the case either concludes in a different result or would actually be harmful rather
than beneficial.
Claim A statement, or the first step of an argument. The “what” of an argument. See p. 12.
Comparative When two arguments relate to each other, debaters may suggest why their argument is more
advantage beneficial than their opponent’s argument.
Concede To agree, a conceded argument is one that is explicitly agreed to by the opponent or is implic-
Also called: itly agreed to by virtue of being dropped.
concession
Conditional Debaters suggest that their argument is “conditional” in that they can avoid that argument
Also called: or issue whenever they wish or when certain conditions are met. Conditional affirmatives are
conditionality cases that only affirm the resolution when certain conditions are present. As in a conditional
statement, a conditional position follows an “if-then” format.

87
Contention Main arguments in a constructive speech, often divided into sub-points, A, B, C, etc, for
clarity.
Contradiction Two arguments are incompatible with each other, or there is a perceived conceptual tension
between two ideas. Debaters should avoid contradicting themselves.
Counterplan A term borrowed from policy debate, it refers to “better solution” than the affirmative case
that is offered by the negative. It is like a “little affirmative case” and should have specific ad-
vocacy and solve the problem the affirmative suggests as well as be competitive and mutually
exclusive with the affirmative case. This presumes the affirmative has a plan. See also, mutually
exclusive
Criterion In general, each debater will present a value criterion (a standard) which the debater will use to:
• explain how the value should be protected, respected, maximized, advanced, or achieved.
• measure whether a given side or argument protects, respects, maximizes, advances, or
achieves the value.
• evaluate the relevance and importance of an argument in the context of the round.
• The relationship between the value premise and the criterion should be clearly articu-
lated.
• During the debate, the debaters may argue the validity or priority of the two value struc-
tures. They may accept their opponent’s value structure, prove the superiority of their
own value structure, or synthesize the two.
Critical theory In the humanities and social sciences, critical theory is a general term for new theoretical
developments (roughly since the 1960s) in a variety of fields, informed by structuralism,
post-structuralism, deconstruction, Marxist theory, and several other areas of thought. It en-
compasses many related developments in literary theory (which is often a rough synonym)
and cultural studies, aesthetics, theoretical sociology and social theory, continental philoso-
phy more generally. For more information see, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory
Cross-apply, cross- Making an argument at one place in the debate and then applying that same argument some-
application where else in the debate.
Cross-examination One debater asks questions, another answers, about the debate which is taking place.
Cross-examination should be used by the debater to clarify, challenge and/or advance con-
cepts in the round.
Crystallization Selection of voting issues and weighing the round for the judge. See p.39 See also, voting
issues.

Cut evidence To copy a portion of a book, magazine, or hearing onto a note card or brief (via photocopy-
ing, handwriting, or typing).
Defense Arguments which prove why the judge should vote against your opponent. See also, offense.
Disadvantage In debate, a disadvantage is any problem that results because of the implementation of the
affirmative or negative case. The disadvantage must be unique or suggest that the case causes
the disadvantage to occur when it otherwise wouldn’t.
Discursive impact Derived from the word discourse, this argument usually says that the language used within
the debate is more important than the issues debated. Discursive impacts are usually claimed
by kritiks.
Double turn It is a classic debate mistake for a debater to argue both link and impact turns against the
same argument. Since both of these arguments independently turn the argument, the two in
conjunction work against the debater who is making both types of turns. Example: If the link
turn was that the affirmative solves a problem and an impact turn was that problem is actually
a benefit. Thus, the affirmative says that they stop a good thing from happening.
Drop, Dropped An argument not responded to by a debater.
Elimination rounds Single-elimination debate rounds generally held at large tournaments. For example, a quar-
Also called elims and terfinal, semifinal, or final round.
break rounds
Empirically denied The statement made by the opponent is not true in the real world. Put another way, our ex-
perience suggests otherwise.
Evidence Authoritative quoted material entered into the debate to support the argument being made.
Also called: cards or It is used to provide the warrant for a claim. Evidence can be empirical, about the real word,
quotes or theoretical, more of a philosophical position on a core question or concept. Evidence, or
cards, requires a full source cite. See p. 21.
Extend, Extending Re-explaining an argument that was made in a prior speech. You may not extend an argu-
ment without responding to your opponent’s attacks to that argument, unless it was dropped.
Fiat The assumption that in order to decide the desirability of an alternative future, we first have
to imagine that it exists. Thus, debaters are not required to show that their case “will” be ad-
opted but that it “should” be adopted.
Final round The elimination round that occurs between the top two debaters in a tournament.

89
First Affirmative The first speech of the debate round. The affirmative presents his or her case position defend-
Constructive ing the resolution. The speech is 6 minutes in length.
Also called: AC or
1AC
First Negative The first speech of the debater defending the negative side of the resolution. This speech is
Constructive 7 minutes in length. Divided into two parts, the first 3.5 minutes of the speech presents the
Also called: NC or negative case, and the second half, (3.5 minutes) argues against the affirmative case, or the
1NC AC. However, there are no rules regarding precise time allocation in this speech. There is
some controversy in the community whether to call this speech a rebuttal.
Flip See turn
Flow The record of the round, the notes that judges and debaters take.
Also called: flow sheet
Flow judge An experienced judge who takes extensive notes during the debate.
Flow sharing A common practice of collusion between teammates or colleagues at tournaments to share
information regarding what competitors are arguing so both teams can prepare in advance.
Forced choice A situation in which one must make a choice and choosing to not make a choice is not an
option. Forced choice is essential to competitive debate.
Ground Usually used to refer to the positions debaters must defend as affirmative or negative, as in
“argumentative ground.” Each team needs to have some “ground” to defend in order for the
debate to be a fair contest. Thus, interpretations of the topic which leave the debater no
“ground” to defend should be rejected because they are unfair.
Group A rebuttal tactic to combine arguments that share a common premise or underlying assump-
tion. This strategy is particularly important when an opponent makes many arguments.
High-High (pairing) A method of pairing preliminary rounds where the top debater faces the next highest debater
in their bracket. This is a not a standard practice.
High-Low (pairing) A method of pairing preliminary rounds where the top debater faces the bottom debater in
a bracket.
Impact (noun) The conclusion or result of an argument. The “why it matters” of an argument. See p.12
Impact (verb) Connecting the conclusion of an argument to the criterion or framework. See p. 12

Impact turn An impact turn is a specific type of turn that suggests that the impact argued by one debater
to be detrimental was actually positive. Example: If the negative argued the universal health
care would cause the economy to collapse, resulting in war, the affirmative could impact turn
by arguing that economic decline would actually dampen desire to go to war. See also, link
turn and double turn.
Issue selection A strategy designed to prioritize arguments when time does not permit addressing every ar-
gument made by an opponent. Arguments are prioritized based on how important they are
to the debater’s case or the burdens in the debate.
Judge The person or persons who decide whether the affirmative or negative has won the debate.
Kick A debater may kick an argument or eliminate it from consideration if there are no offensive
Also called: punt answers against it such as a turn. Kicking the argument nullifies it in the debate and is used
to save time in rebuttals.
Kritik A type of argument, generally a case that attacks the fundamental assumptions of the reso-
lution, or of the opponent’s case, by saying that the assumptions embodied by the opponent
are false or reprehensible. This is generally not standard practice. For more information, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kritik
Lay judge A term for a judge that is not experienced in the format of debate, its nuances, and may or
may not take notes, or flow. In general, a lay judge is inexperienced at judging debates.
Line-by-line Point by point refutation of an argument with multiple responses. Often distinguished from
a “big picture” approach.
Link The logical connection that occurs between two parts of an argument
Also called: internal
link
Link turn A link turn is a specific type of turn that suggests that the claim does not connect to the im-
pact but rather the claim connects to another impact that would prove the opposite side of
the resolution. Example: If the negative argued the universal health care would destroy the
economy, the affirmative would link turn this argument by arguing that the universal health
care would help the economy. See also, impact turn and double turn.
Low point win Typically, the winner of a debate is assigned higher points. In some cases and at some tour-
naments, judges are permitted to assign a low point win where the winner of the debate has
lower points than the loser in the debate. This typically happens when the debater who wins
is either a poor speaker or was less persuasive yet won the arguments in the round more con-
clusively.

91
Mitigate or mitigation To diminish or reduce the severity of the argument. This is the weakest form of attack because
it accepts that the argument is true but suggests that the impact is not as bad as claimed.
Moving target A debater who argues a position that does not suggest a particular advocacy but rather argues
from a broad perspective, which permits him or her to shift between different advocacies as
he or she sees fit.
Mutually-exclusive Arguments or world views that are distinct and can not be accepted together. Two arguments
are mutually exclusive if they can not co-exist. For example, in policy debate, a plan and a
counterplan must be mutually exclusive.
Negation Theory Negation theory posits that the negative debater does not have a burden of proof but rather,
only to disprove the affirmative, the negative can advocate many different approaches to at-
tacking the affirmative including possibly contradictory approaches. Negatives must be wary
of a double turn when using this strategy.
Negative The side of the debate that attacks, or argues against the resolution.
Negative obligation Negative obligations denote a state’s obligation to refrain from activities which would create
barriers or undermine the enjoyment of a fundamental right.
Net-benefit An argument is net beneficial if, when compared to it’s response, one debater can claim that
Also called: net the argument has an edge over his or her opponent’s argument.
beneficial
New arguments Any response to a dropped argument is considered a new response. Failing to address an
argument the first time an opportunity exists, renders an argument dropped and by default,
true. Judges are instructed to disregard new arguments introduced in the rebuttals. This does
not include the introduction of new evidence in support of points already advanced or the
answering of arguments introduced by opponents.
Non-unique The suggestion that an argument is non-unique means that it is true for both the affirmative
and negative. If an argument is non-unique it does not affect the debate. Non-unique answers
are defensive answers.
Observation An observation is correctly used to further clarify the terms in the resolution, the ground
permitted by the resolution, or an assumption of the resolution that provides for fair and
reasonable debate.
Octofinals The elimination round between the top 16 debaters in a tournament.

Off-case Properly used, the term means any arguments that are independent of both the affirmative
and negative case arguments. Occasionally, debaters will refer to arguments made against the
affirmative case to be off-case.
Offense Arguments which prove why the judge should vote for you. See also, defense.
Overview An argument made against a set of arguments or an entire case. Overviews usually attack
underlying assumptions of the case. Overviews occur before a set of arguments or at the top
of a case.
Pairings The schedule that identifies who will affirm, who will negate, which room they will be debat-
Also called: ing in, and who the judge will be for each round.
schematics, schems,
schedules
Paradigm A judge’s philosophy or view of debate. Generally, a judge’s way of deciding a debate. Many
paradigms are available at http://www.thendca.org
Permutation A permutation means that both the affirmative and negative arguments can co-exist and is a
Also called: perm and test of competitiveness. Permutations occur most often with counterplans and kritiks. If the
permute affirmative can permute, or do both the counterplan or kritik, they are not competitive.
Pimp or pimping The word pimp is used in the medical profession to describe, pejoratively, when an attending
physician asks medical students or residents difficult questions. In debate, the term pimp is
used to describe nit-picky questions or responses to an argument. The pimp does not have
any merit, it is usually used to distract the opponent or skew their time. See also, time suck.
Position The overall theme or thesis of the debater’s argument.
Positive obligation Positive obligations denote a state’s obligation to engage in an activity to secure the effective
enjoyment of a fundamental right, as opposed to the classical negative obligation to merely
abstain from rights violations.

93
Post-modernism Postmodernism is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory,
Also called: po-mo philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as ei-
ther emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. In a debate sense, if Descartes
is seen as the father of modernism, then postmodernism is a variety of cultural positions
which reject major features of Cartesian (or allegedly Cartesian) modern thought. Hence,
views which, for example, stress the priority of the social to the individual; which reject the
universalizing tendencies of philosophy; which prize irony over knowledge; and which give
the irrational equal footing with the rational in our decision procedures all fall under the
postmodern umbrella. In debate, this term refers to an area of thought that may form the
philosophical basis for arguments. For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Postmodernism
Preempt or An argument designed to respond to an anticipated argument before it is made. For example,
preempting an affirmative case could preempt possible negative attacks or case arguments. These are de-
Also called: spike fensive arguments designed to ease the rebuttal burden.
Preflow Each debater writes an outline of their case arguments on the left most margin of their pa-
per in advance of the round in preparation for the debate. Preflows should always be done
before the student walks into the room. The preflow may be as detailed or skeletal as the
debate wishes.
Preparation time The time before rebuttal speeches where debaters can prepare his or her attacks. The norm is
Also called: prep time not to use prep-time before cross-examination.
or down time
Quarterfinals The elimination round between the top eight debaters in a tournament.
Rebuttal Speeches in a debate round that argue against an opponent’s position and defend one’s own
position from attacks. 1AR, NR or 2NR, 2AR.
Refutation See rebuttal
Resolution The sentence that states the topic or issue that is to be debated. To find out what the current
resolution is for LD, see http://www.nflonline.org
Scouting When one school has multiple debaters at a tournament, they may send “flow scouts” to
watch other competitors’ debates in order to see what they are arguing and prepare in ad-
vance. This is often done during elimination debates to prepare for the next round. See also,
flow sharing.
Seed The ranking of the debater relative to other debaters at the tournament. For example, the best
Also called: seeding debater in prelims is called the top or first seed.

Semifinals The elimination round between the top four debaters in a tournament.
Sever To sever means to exclude a portion of an argument or a position. A debater might sever part
of their case making the term synonymous with kicking or punting the argument. A sever
attack suggests that an argument is not true in all cases but rather, only in some cases. Sever
attacks are poor strategy because it concedes the basis of the argument to be true.
Signposting Identifying to the judge where you are on the flow. Signposting is critical for the judge to
understand which arguments the debaters are referencing.
Solvency Typically an argument made in policy debates, this term refers to the way a debater fixes the
problems that he or she suggests in his or her arguments.
Solvency mechanism The specific method suggested by the debater to fix the problem they outline.
Source cite Bibliographic information of a piece of evidence or card. See p. 21-2, for examples.
Speaker award An award given to debaters with the highest number of speaker points at the tournament.
This is calculated independently of the debater’s record.
Speaker points A scale of numerical points assigned to each debater based on their overall performance in
the round. Judges vary on what they use to assign speaker points but typically include the
overall presentation by the debater, their speaking style and quality, their strategy in the de-
bate, and how well the debater performed in reference to an ideal performance.
Spew When a debater reads arguments very quickly in an attempt to overwhelm the opponent
with too many arguments. See also, spread.
Spike See preempt
Split-decision A circumstance when a panel of judges differs on who won the debate round. Generally, a
situation where in a panel of three judges, two judges vote for one debater, and the third votes
for the other debater. The winner of the most ballots wins the round.
Spread Making many, many arguments in an attempt to prevent the other debater from answering
them all.
Standard The framework, or occasionally used to describe the criterion and the value premise together,
or just the criterion.
Sub-point A supporting argument to a larger, main argument main in a contention.
Sweepstakes A team award given to schools with many successful debaters based on a criterion determined
by the tournament.

95
Tabulation Room The place at a tournament where debate rounds are paired and tournament administration
Also called: tab room occurs. Ballots are often picked up and returned here.
Take-out An argument that nullifies, or cancels another argument. See pg. 27.
Theory Any class of arguments that refers to the way the round functions. Always a consideration of
fairness and education, theory arguments include topicality and conditionality. All theory
arguments are evaluated prior to case arguments.
Time allocation The amount of time that is spent on each argument or case in a rebuttal. Poor time allocation
occurs when a debaters spends far too much time on any one argument or arguments that will
not determine the outcome of the debate.
Time skew Because each rebuttal speech is shorter than the constructive, debaters are often forced to fo-
cus on some arguments at the expense of others. Time skew is used to describe an imbalance
in the time allocated to any particular argument. See also, time suck
Time suck An argument used to force an opponent to misallocate their time. The offending debater, the
one who deploys the time suck, has little intention of using the particular argument to win
the debate. Rather, he or she hopes that the opponent will drop something else crucial to the
debate by focusing on the time suck. See also, pimp and time skew.
Topicality Typically an argument made in policy debates, topicality questions whether the affirmative
case supports the resolution. For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-
icality
Turn A turn is when an argument that was initially made to support an action is shown to adversely
Also called: flip, turn affect that action. See also, link turn & impact turn See p. 27.
around
Underview An argument made against of set of arguments or an entire case below those arguments or at
the bottom of a case. Occasionally, an underview will be independent of the arguments made
by the opponent.
Uniqueness Uniqueness means that the argument is essential and is caused by the action suggested by the
debater.
Value premise A value is an ideal held by individuals, societies, governments, etc. that serves as the highest
goal to be protected, respected, maximized, advanced, or achieved. In general, the debater
will establish a value which focuses the central questions of the resolution and will serve as
a foundation for argumentation. The value premise must specifically relate to the agent of
action in the resolution.

Voting issues Suggestions to the judge as to what they should consider in making their decision. Voting
Also called: voters issues should be main arguments or aspects of clash that must be related to the value premise
and/or criterion. Typically, two to three voting issues are presented. See also, crystallization.
Warrant Evidence or analysis that is used to support a claim. The “why” of an argument. See p.12
Weigh or weighing A comparison of arguments relative to the criterion. Weighing can take many forms but gen-
erally involves suggesting why one argument should be considered before another in the de-
cision making calculus of the judge.
Word economy The term describes the use of the fewest words possible to explain a concept or argument.
Due to time limits in each speech, particularly the 1AR, word economy is an important skill.

97
APPENDIX B
Common Flowing Abbreviations
I
n each debate, a good flow is critical to success. To become a better debater, you
must be skilled at flowing and that takes practice as well as having a set of abbre-
viations that works for you. Remember that only you have to read your flow and
any system that works for you is great. This table contains many possible symbols
and what they refer to but feel free to make up your own. They should be a starting
point for your own flowing language.

99
GENERAL SYMBOLS
Symbol Definition Symbol Definition Symbol Definition
VP, V Value premise ☺ Happiness ♀, ♀ism Female (Feminism)
C, © Criterion Ø Not ♂ Male; men
< Less than Δ Change  Check(s)
> Greater than ↑ Increase  More
Social contract;
= , =ity Equality ↓ Decrease SCt
Supreme Court
Money, capital,
≠ Unequal; inequality  Leads to; impact $, $ism
capitalism
Conflict;
f(x) Function c/o b/c Because
contradiction
/ of; role/govt Gov’t Government St State
Rts Rights L or Lib Liberty SW Social Welfare
IRts Individual Rights Hrts Human Rights Econ Economics
Ppl People H Harm Ea Each
(T) Turn (S) Solves; Solvency (P) Power
Also note that each time a new topic comes out, you’ll need to come up with new abbreviations.

APPENDIX C
Case Writing Exercise
I
n the following activity, the objective is to write a simple affirmative and/or neg-
ative case. The evidence is provided for you to reduce any research that would
need to be done. The case should have a value premise, criterion, and at least two
main arguments for each side. Don’t forget to use the claim-warrant-impact format!
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS JUSTIFIED ital punishment from 1972-1976, researchers

gathered murder statistics across the country.
STUDIES SHOW THAT CAPITAL Researcher Karl Spence of Texas A&M Uni-
PUNISHMENT DETERS MURDER. versity came up with these statistics, in 1960,
Wesley Lowe, Rochester Institute of there were 56 executions in the USA and
Technology, September 9, 1998 9,140 murders. By 1964, when there were
“During the temporary suspension on cap- only 15 executions, the number of murders

101
had risen to 9,250. In 1969, there were no ex- cases is an expression of the community’s be-
ecutions and 14,590 murders, and 1975, af- lief that certain crimes are themselves so griev-
ter six more years without executions, 20,510 ous an affront to humanity that the only ade-
murders occurred. So the number of murders quate response may be the penalty of death.”
grew as the number of executions shrank. All arguments must connect to the criterion!
And more recently, there have been 56 execu- Now, try writing the negative case. Since
tions in the USA in 1995, more in one year you know what the affirmative case, you
since executions resumed in 1976, and there might think about writing a case that argues
has been a 12 percent drop in the murder rate something a little bit different and save some
nationwide.” of your evidence for responses to the affirma-
tive case. Follow the same pattern as you did
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS NOT REVENGE. before especially with the claim-warrant-im-
pact format.
Paul Baumann, editor, COMMON-
WEAL, May 19, 1995, p.4
“Justice demands we treat criminals as mor- CAPITAL PUNISMENT IS NOT JUSTIFIED
al agents responsible for their actions, and that
Capital punishment is inconsistent with
we assume such moral responsibility ourselves.
valuing life.
To be sure, retribution must not be just a fancy
Hugo Adam Bedau, Professor of Phi-
word for revenge. For that reason, murder is
losophy at Tufts University, THE CASE
regarded as an assault on the moral order and
AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY,
the community as a whole.”
American Civil Liberties Union Freedom
Network, 1997
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT EXPRESSES
“An execution is a violent public spectacle
MORAL OUTRAGE.
of official homicide, and one that endorses
Joel M. Gore, Due Process of Law, 1979 killing to solve social problems—the worst
“Capital punishment is an expression of so- possible example to set for the citizenry. Gov-
ciety’s moral outrage at particularly offensive ernments worldwide have often attempted to
conduct. This function may be unappealing justify their lethal fury by extolling the pur-
to many but is essential in an ordered society ported benefits that such killing would bring
that asks its citizens to rely on legal processes to the rest of society. The benefits of capital
rather than self-help to vindicate their wrongs. punishment are illusory, but the bloodshed
Indeed the decision that capital punishment and the resulting destruction of community
may be the appropriate sanction in extreme decency are real.”

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT CAN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT KILLS
NOT DETER CRIME. INNOCENT INDIVIDUALS.
Hugo Adam Bedau, Professor of Phi- Laurence A. Grayer, Associate, Margolis
losophy at Tufts University, THE CASE & Edelstein, DENVER JOURNAL OF IN-
AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY, TERNATIONAL LAW AND POLICY,
American Civil Liberties Union Freedom Summer, 1995, p. 566
Network, 1997 “There are documented cases of evidence
“When crime is planned, the criminal or- being produced to vindicate an individual
dinarily concentrates on escaping detection, who has already been executed or who was
arrest, and conviction. The threat of even the on death row awaiting execution. In 1987, re-
severest punishment will not discourage those searchers documented 350 cases in which 325
who expect to escape detection and arrest. It defendants, whose guilt was serious doubt,
is impossible to imagine how the threat of any were convicted of murder; 119 of them were
punishment could prevent a crime that is not sentenced to death. Cases such as these have
premeditated. Gangland killings, air piracy, lead to erroneous convictions, as was the con-
drive-by shootings, and kidnapping for ran- viction of Kirk Bloodsworth who served nine
som are among the graver felonies that contin- years on death row in New York until a DNA
ue to be committed because some individuals test established his innocence.
think they are too clever to get caught. All arguments must connect to the criterion!

103
APPENDIX D
Troubleshooting
I
n this section, we provide quick answers to many common problems faced by
debaters in rounds. While this can not serve as a ready-reference in rounds,
reading these pages before rounds may avoid some common pitfalls and an
unfortunate loss or two.

105
What if… What to do
Our natural inclination towards this complaint is not a good one. It’s never the judge’s fault
that you lose. It is always your fault for not persuading them. Remember, the flow is one way of
I lost a round because a judge winning the ballot. It is not the only way. There are many acceptable ways to debate and there
(fill in the blank) are many acceptable ways to judge. Read your ballots and get ready to encounter various judges
at your next tournament. If you are consistently having problems winning a particular judge’s
ballot, let your coach know. There’s a good chance that it is an easy fix.
Try looking at the commonalities or similar assumptions of your arguments. If swapping out
I can’t think of a value premise one argument will help come up with a criterion or value premise, go ahead and do that. If
or criterion? you’re still stuck, try widening your argument choices and see if there are different arguments
you could make.
We PROMISE that there is research out there on the resolution no matter what the topic is. If
you have access to a college library or its library website, research will be very easy. You’ll want
to find a few key words and phrases that will work for your resolution. On the health care topic,
“universal health care,” “privatization,” health care and poor,” as well as “health care and equali-
ty,” might get you started. Here are some research tools that might help you:
• Google Scholar (Google is ok but generally a big waste of time)
I can’t find any research on the
• Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
resolution?
• Project Muse
• Journal Storage ( JStor)
• InfoTrac (any version of the Gale Group Databases)
• Ebsco Host
• Also, check the footnotes of any articles you may have already read. They are typically a
gold mine of information.
Begin by VIRUSing the value premise. This is an easy method that will potentially lead you to
I don’t have any cross-exam- a contradiction. If you didn’t hear something or failed to write it down, you will need to ask
ination questions? clarification questions but you will want to try to go deeper into the analysis. If you really run
out of questions, go ahead and sit down for prep-time.
There’s a good chance that if it didn’t make sense to you, it didn’t make sense to the judge. Ask
enough questions so that you can respond properly to their arguments. A great question to al-
I don’t know what they said?
ways ask is “what’s your position,” or “what’s your thesis.” This will give you a good idea of what
you need to attack to win and what your opponent is trying to argue.
Make as many arguments as you can from memory. Try to answer as many arguments on the
flow as possible. Immediately after your rebuttal, grab a pen and try to write down as many of
I can’t read my flow?
the arguments you just said. As your opponent is responding to your arguments, they should
tag your arguments. That should fill in the gaps in your flow.

Go ahead and start the round. If you’re affirmative, you can pre-flow while the negative takes
prep. If you’re negative, you can pre-flow before the 1AR in the affirmative’s prep. Go with a
I forgot to pre-flow?
very skeletal pre-flow (you can’t be as detailed in a 90 seconds) and if you’re missing anything
you can catch up when they tag your argument in their rebuttal.
Don’t do that again! Seriously though, if you have offense against your opponent’s case, go to
those arguments first and explain why those arguments are the most important arguments in
the round. Also explain why winning those arguments is enough to vote for you. If you don’t
I dropped my case?
have offense against your opponent’s case, you will need to explain why your opponent must
win all of his or her arguments in order to win. You’re trying to suggest that enough defense
against the case is enough to disprove his or her case and enough for you to win.
First, determine whether you lost because you were factually wrong or because you didn’t de-
bate the arguments well enough. If it is the first, you need to change your arguments. For exam-
Lost a round because someone ple, if you were trying to argue that the Civil War ended in 1964, you might want to re-think
had evidence against my case? that idea. If someone just had evidence against your case, you probably need better responses
to their arguments. Keep researching and figure out if there are answers to their arguments that
you can succeed at the next tournament.
First, attempt to clarify the arguments in cross-examination so that you can answer the argu-
ment in rebuttal. Second, if you still don’t get the argument, answer the assumption behind the
I have no answers to my oppo-
argument or in the worst-case-scenario, attack the assumption behind the case. Finally, make
nent’s arguments?
offensive arguments against their case so that even if they extend their arguments, they have to
answer yours. At least you’ll have something to weigh with.
Prioritize. Quickly. Go to arguments in this order: (yes it’s ok to jump around the flow if you
need to in order to accomplish this task but make sure you SIGNPOST!)
I’m running out of time in
Arguments you must win in order to win the round.
my rebuttal and can’t get to
Arguments that will make your opponent lose the round.
everything?
Any arguments related to your criterion.
Any arguments related to your opponent’s criterion.
A good bet is to always have three voting issues and if you don’t have ones that come to you in
the round because of the debate, you can use the following format:
I don’t know what my voting
Argument why you meet your criterion
issues are?
Argument why you meet your opponent’s criterion
Argument why your opponent does not win their criterion

107
The one thing a lot of judges tend to dislike is when you ask an opponent to define terms “in
their own words.” Instead, just ask your opponent what it means and more importantly, what
it means for the debate. For example, ask your opponent what happens if you drop the argu-
My opponent is making
ment or if you lose the argument but also ask the opponent what happens if he or she wins the
arguments I don’t understand
argument. Don’t pretend you know what your opponents are saying if you really don’t. You’ll
or using words I don’t under-
only make nonsensical responses and lose very badly. Try to get a sense of what your opponents
stand.
are arguing (use the position/thesis question from above) and answer that. Once this has hap-
pened in your debate, you shouldn’t fear looking dumb. Make the best of it in the debate and
then ask someone what your opponent was talking about.
First of all, don’t freak out! This is great and you should remember that you are there because
I’m in my first elimination you’ve been doing something right (probably a lot of things right) at this tournament. This is
round and there are three your chance to show your stuff and impress a crowd. Enjoy yourself ! Second, if you know who
judges. your judges are or if someone can tell you about them, try to find the commonality among all
three of the judges in terms of their style.

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What are the main topics covered in the document?

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What advice is given for debaters who are running out of time in their rebuttal?

What advice is given for debaters who are running out of time in their rebuttal?

© National Speech & Debate Association

Dr. Seth Halvorson & Cherian Koshy

Dr. Seth Halvorson & Cherian Koshy

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION

Printed and bound in the United States of America

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

About This Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Unit 1: Introduction to LD Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01

Unit 2: How do I write a case? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09

Unit 5: Rebuttal Speeches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Unit 8: Sample Affirmative Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Unit 9: Sample Negative Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

APPENDIX A: Glossary of commonly used debate terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

APPENDIX D: Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION

DR. SETH HALVORSON Ph.D., Columbia University (NY)

iv LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

WHAT IS DEBATE? petitive speaking activity that involves two de-

baters arguing for and against a resolution that

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

02 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

04 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

Score More Points

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

Score More Points

3 Point Shot Steals

Offense Blocked Shots

06 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

Offense Arguments Defense Arguments

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

10 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

opposite of the resolution valid. your criterion or standard.

12 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

~ Negation Not, it is not the case, etc.

& Conjunction and, but, however, also

v Disjunction or (inclusive) and/or

> Conditional if, then, only if, given that

= Biconditional if and only if (equivalency)

14 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

16 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

TYPES OF CRITERIA rationale for your criterion by suggesting that

© NATI ONAL S PEE CH & DEB AT E A S S OCIAT ION LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

HOW TO DECIDE WHICH makes a decision, it trades one set of rights

18 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE © NAT I O NA L SP E E C H & D E BATE A S S O CI ATI O N

Agent Action Explanation Possible Criteria

Equality/Equal Treatment: This criterion

choose to limit one per-

the highest priority should be ensuring that

Benefitting the least advantaged: A deriva-

for government to provide for the poorest or least-well-off in society.