Debate

Objective:

Throughout your lives, you are going to be put into the position of having to make an argument to persuade a listener. Whether that listener is a friend who disagrees on which team is the best, a parent you need permission from to go see the newest movie, or a boss you need to convince a raise is deserved for your hard work.

What is a Debate?

A debate is not an argument. A debate is a competition of ideas, where speakers present a case with evidence defending their points. Speakers attack each others evidence and points based on conflicting evidence and flaws in their opponent's reasoning.

While there are many different styles of debate, our class practices a modified Oxford style of debate. Students will work in teams of three, each of whom has an important role, which is detailed below. The teams will get a topic, like: School uniforms improve the education of students. One side will argue the affirmative side of the topic, while the other will argue a negative perspective.

Research Skills: Assessing a Source

In the modern age, one of the most powerful weapons in a country, group, or individual's hands is misinformation. There are millions of fake Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, thousands of fake news websites, and countries who invest billions of dollars trying to convince you of something untrue.

Why?

For some it's a prank played at someone's expense. For others there's profits to be made by convincing you that vaccinations don't work, but a couple herbal supplements or essential oils will do the trick.

To combat this misinformation effort we have to be a careful audience. We have to check our sources. We have to always check if there are reliable sources who contradict a conspiracy theory. Because most of the time, the education and expertise matters.

Step 1: Research Your Topic & Create a Works Cited Page

Research your topic: After receiving your topic, research your topic using newspapers, articles, experts, and statistics to build a case. Be careful, there are many poor sources out there that mistakenly or deliberately present false information. Worst of the worst are strongly bias sources or crowd sources information like:

• Debate.org
• Wikipedia.com
• Reddit.com

If you are ever uncertain about the validity of a source, feel free to check it with me or another instructor.

Works Cited Format: Your works cited page should have each source you have used for this paper cited in proper MLA formatting, consider using Easybibor Citation Machine to cite those sources correctly.

1. Title your page "Works Cited"
2. Format your citations like the following example. Do not number your sources, simply use a hanging indent and a space between each source.
3. Your group must provide no less than twenty sources to be considered for full credit.

Step 2: Select Your Role & Complete Your Work

Your team has done a lot of research, now you need to develop your speech. DO NOT WING IT! The best prepared students have a well organized speech to read from and refer to as they present their case to the class. The less prepared you are, the more difficult it will be to succeed in presenting your case, and your lack of preparation will be obvious to your listeners.

1. Create a copy of the form below.
2. Fill out your section of the form with as much detail, evidence, and turn of phrase as is possible. In most cases, the form will provide you with an example of excellent work, follow that example to produce your own work.
3. Practice your speech.
   • Practice in front of a mirror, and pay attention to your body language, volume, and the overall flow of your speech.
   • Practice in front of your friends and family. Get feedback: ask what worked, what didn't, and if anything felt confusing. Improve your speech based on that feedback, rewriting where it is needed.
   • Practice will make perfect!