Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Classes – Characterisation in debates

Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Classes

Characterisation in debates

Learn how to use characterisation and descriptive language in debates

Student debating and public speaking resource developed by The Arts Unit

Years 5 to 8 debating

What will I learn?

You will:

explore how characterisation can be used in debates
characterise environments
consider stakeholders relevant to a debate topic
apply characterisation skills to a debating game.

Before you begin

For the lesson, you will need:

a device to watch the videos
your debating journal and a pen.

For the final activity, you will need:

dice (a 9 or 10-sided die works best)
paper or a whiteboard
a timer.

Explore

Explore how characterisation can be used in debates by watching the video Characterisation in debates with Hugh Bartley.

Characterisation in debates

Duration: 04:19

Video full screen - Characterisation in debates
Video transcript - Characterisation in debates

Answer the following questions in your debating journal:

What is ‘characterisation’ in debating?
Explain how you could use characterisation in point, explain, example, link (PEEL).
How could you also use characterisation in rebuttals?
Do you think characterisation will be effective in a debate? Explain your answer.

Describe these groups in the context of a topic.

Have a go at characterising these categories of people for a debate. Make sure you use descriptive and emotive language. Think carefully about how you want to describe them in relation to each topic.

Task 1

Using the topic 'That kids should have to do more work at school’ as context, describe ‘kids’ and ‘teachers’.

Kids are…
Teachers are…

Task 2

Try again with a different topic. Describe ‘students’ and ‘parents’ in the context of the topic ‘That schools should ban junk food’.

Students are…
Parents are…

Task 3

Last one! Using the topic ‘That the voting age should be lowered to 15 years old’ as context, describe:

15-year-olds are…
People who already vote are…

Need some help?

Task 1

Try using the sentence starters below:

Kids are lazy! They just…
Teachers are busy! They are always…

Task 2

Try using the sentence starters below:

Students are impulsive! They…
Parents want their kids to be healthy! They…

2. Characterise

Watch the video Characterisation of environments to learn how environments, places and situations can also be characterised.

Characterisation of environments

Duration: 00:51

Video full screen - Characterisation of environments
Video transcript - Characterisation of environments

Describe these environments in the context of a topic.

Have a go at characterising these environments for a debate. Think carefully about how you want to describe the environment in regards to the topic.

Task 1

Describe the environments in relation to the topic ‘That kids should study mindfulness at school’.

Classrooms are…
Playgrounds are…

Task 2

Have another go at describing environments. This time, describe the environments in relation to the topic ‘That kids should have limited technology time at school’.

The internet is…
Schools are…

Task 3

Last one! Describe the environments in relation to the topic ‘That all high school students should take public transport to and from school’.

The roads are…
Public transport is…

Not sure where to start?

Task 1

Try using the sentence starters below:

Classrooms are hectic. There are often more than 30 kids plus teachers buzzing around in each classroom all day, every day…
Playgrounds are busy. There is always so much going on. Students are running around, going to club meetings or training, borrowing from the library or eating their food. They don’t get to relax at all during breaks…

Task 2

Try using the sentence starters below:

The internet is a dangerous place…
Schools are busy places…

3. Consider

Consider stakeholders relevant to the debate topic.

During preparation time, it is important that your team thinks about who the stakeholders are for the debate. This is normally done during your ‘case development’ time.

Watch the video Stakeholders in debates to learn about stakeholders in a debate.

In your debating journal, answer these questions:

What is a stakeholder?
What are the 3 things you need to think about for your stakeholders?

Stakeholders in debates

Duration: 01:18

Video full screen - Stakeholders in debates
Video transcript - Stakeholders in debates

List some of the stakeholders for each of the following debate topics.

‘That daily sport lessons should be compulsory at school’
‘That homework should be banned’
‘That all kids should have a pet’
‘That schools should ban plastic packaging in lunch boxes’

Hint: Make sure you also think about sub-groups (for example, not just ‘students’ but also ‘students who are athletic’ and ‘students who do not like sport’).

Note: If you want to learn more about how to prepare for a debate, have a look at the Ready, prep, debate! Creative Class.

Creative Class – Ready, prep, debate!

Possible answers:

Q: What is a stakeholder?

A: A stakeholder is someone who would be affected by the debate.

Q: What are the 3 questions you need to think about for your stakeholders?

A: The 3 questions are:

What groups (or sub-groups) of people are affected by the debate?
What motivates each of the groups? What do they really care about?
How will they act as a result of the debate?

‘That daily sport lessons should be compulsory at school’

Students
- Students who are athletic
- Students who do not enjoy sport

Teachers

‘That homework should be banned’

Kids
- Kids who find homework easy and boring
- Kids who find homework hard and stressful
Teachers
Parents and carers
- Parents who are too busy
- Parents who can’t always help with homework (for example, English is their additional language)

‘That all kids should have a pet’

Kids
- Kids with allergies or phobias
- Kids who live in apartments or don’t have a backyard
Parents and carers
- Parents who can afford the cost of a pet
- Parents who can’t afford a pet

‘That schools should ban plastic packaging in lunch boxes’

Parents
The environment (yes, the environment is a stakeholder! It would be positively affected by this change)
Students
Cleaners

Motivations and actions

Think about what motivates each group of stakeholders for the debate. What do they really care about? How will they act as a result of the change?

In the debate, ‘Smoking should be banned in Australia’ some of the stakeholders would be:

Smokers
Passive smokers (people who don’t smoke but inhale smoke from being nearby)
Cigarette companies
The government.

Think about and answer these questions:

How will smokers react to the change (that smoking will be banned)?
What do passive-smokers care about – will they be happy for the change?
What are cigarette companies motivated by? How will they react to the change?
Why would the government be a stakeholder in this debate (how would it affect them)?

4. Apply

Apply your characterisation skills to a silly but fun debating game!

Before you play, make sure you watch the video ‘Example of characterisation game’ with Hugh Bartley and Tony Davey in action, going head to head in battle!

Play this game with 3+ people. Read the steps below before trying out the game!

Example of characterisation game

Duration: 05:21

Video full screen - Example of characterisation game
Video transcript - Example of characterisation game

Characterisation game steps

Set up the game. As a group:

Collect a numbered die.
Write a numbered list of animals. Make sure you have an interesting variety.

For example: cheetah, ladybug, sloth, echidna, elephant, mosquito, lizard, turtle, parrot, skunk.

Write a numbered list of objects. These should be things that you can hold or use.

For example: fork, go-kart, chair, pencil case, beach towel, basketball, toilet paper, glue.

Write a list of environments or locations. These do not have to be numbered.

For example: the moon, your school, a hairdressing salon, an office, the beach, a deserted island, deep in the jungle, a palace, on a spaceship.

Note: your animal and object lists should only be as long as the sides of your die. For example, if you have a 6-sided die, only write a list that is 6 animals long.

Get ready:

The teacher or coach selects 2 student volunteers.
Both students have a turn at rolling the die to find out which animal they are. The die corresponds with the numbers on the list. For example, if you rolled a 4, you would get the animal that is number 4 on the list.
Both students roll the die again to find out which object they have. Again, match the number on the die to the number on the object list.
A student in the audience gets to pick a location from the location list.

Play the game:

Each student is the animal they selected. They are armed with the object they selected. The hypothetical ‘battle’ will take place in the location that was decided. Students will be debating about which animal would win if this was really a battle!

Students get 1-2 minutes to quickly write down some ideas.
Student A gets 45 seconds to present their arguments to the group, explaining why their animal would win in this battle.
Student B has 45 seconds to rebut Student A and explain why they would actually win.
Student A gets to respond with a rebuttal for 30 seconds.
Student B gets to respond with a final rebuttal for 30 seconds.
The audience can vote on which animal was victorious.

Hint! This game is won by using characterisation. Describe and characterise your animals, objects and the location to help your case! Use what you have to your advantage and try not to mention things that will be a disadvantage.

Well done!

You have completed this Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Class.