Dalian Nationalities University – China Debate Education Network Workshop for Teachers of Debate
May 20 – 21, 2016
Robert Trapp, Workshop Director, Willamette
University
Yang Ge, Workshop Host and Operation Manager, Dalian Nationalities University
Table of Contents About the DNU—CDEN Team ................................................................................................ 1 Schedule .................................................................................................................................. 3 Public Speaking Materials
Understanding and Engaging the Audience
Assignment Idea: Using Surveys to Analyze Audiences ................................... 5 Understanding Audience Lesson Plan ............................................................. 6 Activity: Using Impromptu Speaking to Emphasize Audiences ....................... 10
Teaching Argument Types and Fallacies
Fallacies ........................................................................................................... 11 Argument Types .............................................................................................. 12
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence ................................................................................... 15
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: Example ....................................................... 17 Public Speaking Assignments
Public Speaking Narrative Assignment ............................................................ 21 Declamation Assignment ................................................................................. 23 Tribute Speech Assignment ............................................................................. 25 Informative Speech Assignment ...................................................................... 27 Persuasive Speech Assignment ....................................................................... 29
Debate Materials
Ethical and Educational Dimensions of Debate
Handout ........................................................................................................... 31 Questions for Discussion ................................................................................. 32
Managing a Student Debate Organization in the Post-‐CDEN Era ................................ 33 Teaching Argumentation
Elements of Argument ..................................................................................... 35 Fallacies ........................................................................................................... 39
Worlds Style Debate Speaker Responsibilities in Worlds Style Debate ............................................ 45 Outline of a Prime Minister Speech ................................................................. 47 Exercises for Creating a Prime Minister Speech ...............................................48 Outline of a Leader of Opposition Speech ....................................................... 49 Exercise for Creating a Leader of Opposition Speech ...................................... 50 Outline of a Deputy Prime Minister Speech ................................................... 51 Outline of a Deputy Leader of Opposition Speech .......................................... 52 Outline of a Member of Government Speech ................................................. 53 Outline of a Member of Opposition Speech .................................................... 54 Exercise: Extending the Debate as Member of Government or Opposition ... 55 Outline for a Government Whip Speech ......................................................... 57 Outline for an Opposition Whip Speech .......................................................... 58 Exercise Government and Opposition Whip Speeches ................................... 59
Teaching Debate Skills
Refutation and Rebuilding ............................................................................... 61 Exercises for Refutation and Rebuilding .......................................................... 63 Points of Information ...................................................................................... 65 Exercise for Offering and Responding to Points of Information ...................... 66
Judging and Evaluating Debates
Mechanics of judging ....................................................................................... 67 Sample Worlds-‐Style Ballot ............................................................................. 69
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About the DNU—CDEN TEAM
Yang Ge is an English Instructor and Debate Coach at Dalian Nationalities University. In addition to teaching debate at DNU, she has been a debate trainer in several countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Robert Trapp is a Professor of Civic Communication. He has taught debate in over 40 countries and is the primary author of Building Global Relations Through Debate (FLTRP Press)
Brian Shipley was a nationally and internationally award-‐winning debater for Willamette University. Dr Shipley has taught debate in the US as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. Most recently He served as Chief of Staff to Oregon Governor Kate Brown. He has served three successive Oregon governors at the highest levels.
Ma Shuang is an Associate Professor, Associate Dean, Asia-‐Australia Business College, Liaoning University. Both she and her teams have won national awards for debate in China.
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Yang Xigang is a Lecturer and Chief Coach of English Debate Association, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing Forestry University. He has served as a partner for the China Debate Education Association.
Russ Taylor is an English Teacher and Debate Coach at Northeast Normal University. Has taught debate to teachers and students in China for the past 10 years and has been invited judge and DCA to many prestigious events in China.
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DNU—CDEN Workshop for Teachers of Debater Schedule
Date Time Topic Friday May 20
Anytime Saturday May 21 8:30 am Opening assembly
Robert Trapp and Yang Ge 9:00 – 10:20 am Ethical & educational dimensions of debate. Robert Trapp 10:20 am Break and group photo 11:00 am – 12:20pm Managing a student debate organization in the post-‐CDEN era.
Yang Xigang, Ma Shuang, and Russ Taylor 12:30pm – 2:00 pm Lunch on your own 2:00 – 3:20 pm Creating a case for First Government.
Yang Xigang & Robert Trapp 3:30 – 5:00 pm Creating opposition arguments.
Brian Shipley 5:00 pm Conversation and visiting time Afterwards Dinner on your own Sunday, May 22 9:00 – 10:20 am Teaching Fallacies
Robert Trapp 10:20 am Break 10:30 am – 12:00pm Teaching refutation and points of information.
Brian Shipley 12:00pm – 1:30 pm Lunch on your own 1:30 – 2:50 pm Judging and evaluating debate.
Brian Shipley and Russ Taylor 3:00 pm Presentation of certificates for debate teachers. Robert Trapp
and Yang Ge 3:30 pm Departures
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Understanding and Engaging the Audience McKean & Richards
Assignment Idea: Using Surveys to Analyze Audiences
Objectives: Help students understand the audience they will be speaking to; help students develop rhetorical strategies that will address the beliefs and attitudes held by their audience. This activity is designed to be done while students are working on a persuasive speech. Students will have already learned about different kinds of audiences and will have developed a thesis about a policy that they will argue in their speech (for example: “Congress should enact legislation supporting free tuition for all public colleges”). Instructions:
1. Drawing on the different types of audiences (uninformed / informed, interested / uninterested, favorable / hostile) students should brainstorm questions that will illicit demographic and attitudinal information from their classmates that relates to their thesis.
2. The survey should consist of 15-20 multiple choice, agree/disagree, or true/false
questions. Survey questions should fall into four categories:
a. Questions of value, which ask about the underlying moral / ethical commitments that audience members hold. For example: “Do you agree or disagree with the idea that higher education is a fundamental human right?”
b. Questions of policy, which ask about what audience members believe should
be done. For example: “Do you agree or disagree with the idea that the federal government should do more to help low-income families?”
c. Questions of fact, which assess how much audience members already know
about your topic. For example: “Do you believe that student loan debt has decreased or increased in the last 5 years?”
d. Questions of definition, which ask questions about the meaning of key terms
associated with a student’s topic. For example: “Is access to higher education a right or a privilege?”
3. Instructors should give students tips for writing clear questions that are easy to
understand.
4. Students should circulate the survey to their classmates and do a reflection activity that allows them to classify their audience.
Understanding and Engaging the Audience (Continued) McKean & Richards
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Understanding Audience Lesson Plan Goals: Help students understand different kinds of audiences; help students to analyze how a speaker adapted to a hostile audience; have students think deeply about the audience(s) they may face in delivering a speech; provide students with strategies for adapting to particular kinds of audiences Clinton Hostile Audience Activity:
• Students watch a video clip of a speaker confronted with a hostile audience o In my example, students watched a clip of former president Bill Clinton
confronted by Vietnam veterans • Explain to students that this is practice for coming up with strategies to appeal to
your audience • Debrief – how did Clinton address his hostile audience? (Brainstorm on board)
o Addressed the hostility directly: you are being heard; didn’t pretend it didn’t exist
o Presented a solution to some of the distrust – opening up the Vietnam records o Acknowledged the limitations of the speech – we aren’t going to agree on
everything o Personal narrative – I had friends that died o Appealed to universal values (freedom of speech, freedom to disagree); if we
can’t agree on the war, we can agree on these values (transcendence) o Asked for his audience’s respect / good faith / give me a chance
Addressing Your Audience
• Clinton had to address the audience in front of him, not the one he would have ideally wanted to address
• Clinton had to adapt to his hostile audience while meeting the goals and objectives for his speech
• So Clinton developed rhetorical strategies to adapt to that audience • But first, Clinton had to understand his audience. Let’s talk about how to break down
and understand the audience you are going to address in your speech. Audience Types and Approaches (This could also work as a hand out)
• Today, we are going to map out three different axes (spectra) to gauge how audiences relate to your speech topic.
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A.) Audience Interest The first is your audience’s general interest in the topic. Your audience will fall somewhere along this axis: Interested -----------------------------------------Indifferent
• Gauges how much the audience cares about the topic. • High interest typically results from having personal experience with the issue. • Lack of interest typically means that the audience members feel like the policy or
issue is not relevant to them. • For instance, many male students might not think about the importance of the birth
control pill because they aren't women. Women, however, would have more connection to the issue because they take the pill
Important questions to ask about audience interest:
• What is your interest level in the topic? • Why is this topic interesting? • What would make the topic interesting to the audience? • What makes the audience interested or not interested in this topic (values? Personal
experience? Media?) Strategies for building audience interest in a topic:
• Get their attention. Use introduction to explain how this issue affects them and why it is important. Tell them the “So what?”
• Make them see why they should care, tell them how it affects them • Use a mixture of emotional and rational appeals to keep them focused and motivate
interest and action. If already interested:
• Keep their attention by expanding their knowledge of the topic—tell them new reasons to care beyond the ones they already have.
• Easier to persuade if they are interested. So, what do they need to know in order to be convinced?
B.) Audience Information Level Misinformed-------------------Uninformed--------------------Informed
• Gauges how much the audience knows about the topic. • Similarly, if your audience already has a large amount of knowledge about your
topic, then you don't have to explain as much. Important questions to ask about audience information:
• What details does the audience know? • How complex is the topic?
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• What relevant experiences does the audience have that will let them understand the topic (for forming analogies)?
• What does the audience need to know in order to understand your argument? Strategies for dealing with uninformed or misinformed audiences:
• Educate them on the topic. Tell them the most important information so they are made aware of the issue.
• Simplify the problem/issue. Make the issue understandable to the audience using the information they do have or similar issues they DO know about.
• Address the barriers to accurate information. Sometimes ignorance of an issue is cultivated, or left unaddressed in the media. For instance, the U. S. has a larger prison population than any other industrialized nation. How often, though, do you hear about this in the news?
• Talk about how we know the information. It isn't enough to simply state facts, but rather, emphasize how we know the information that we have (I.e we know how learning happens because of specific experiments, or we know based on survey results, etc.).
C.) Audience Attitudes Hostile----------------Undecided-----------------Favorable
• Gauges how the audience is likely to react to your policy or stance on the issue. • A more hostile audience means that you will have to ask less of them. A more
favorable audience is more likely to go along with what you say. • Think of it this way: a hostile audience is likely to resist things you say, so its really
important to recognize this and provide way more support to make your argument convincing. A favorable audience is likely to go along with what you say.
Important questions to ask about audience attitudes:
• Why is the audience hostile or favorable? Where do feelings on this issue come from?
• What is the audience's relationship to the topic? • Does the audience directly and obviously benefit or lose something from your
policy? • What shared or different values underlie the audience's stance? • Are there elements of your policy that the audience would be hostile to/favorable of?
Does this differ from other parts of your policy/stance? • Is the audience likely to change their stance through persuasion? • What could be done to change hostile to favorable? What mistakes might lead to a
change from favorable to hostile? • How deep does the hostility or favorableness go?
Strategies for Dealing with Hostile Audiences This group disagrees with your thesis, often for explicit reasons related to attitudes, beliefs, and values
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• Refutation Strategy: Engage reasons why your audience opposes your and prove
those reasons faulty. You recognize what they believe and systematically refute it with clear evidence
• Be Clear: Make sure you are specific about the exact issue you audience disagrees with
• Make sure you know what your audience actually disagrees with o Do they disagree about the nature of the problem? o Do they not agree on which solution to choose?
• Do they not have facts or is this about personal values and beliefs? • Use rational appeals with clear, well-argued evidence • Know your facts and be aware of counter arguments. Address these arguments!!!! • Don’t expect huge change. You cannot change values and beliefs in one speech, but
you can persuade on solutions or suggestions. • Careful what you ask for. Make sure your action step reflects the audience’s
willingness or capacity to act. • Make sure you are informing and persuading. Do not discount your audience’s
opinions or knowledge and do not attack your audience. Strategies for Dealing with Favorable Audiences This audience agrees with your thesis. They may, however, feel that you are preaching to the choir. They may not feel moved for change or action. Strategies for dealing with a favorable audience:
• Refocus thesis to emphasize action • Ask more of your audience • Acknowledge agreement you share and push for commitment to action • Remind them why the issue is important • Remind them why they agree • Arm them with facts and reinforce their opinion • Emotional appeals: Stories, examples, etc. can work well here.
Final Thoughts: You will most likely have a mix of audience members/types. Combine strategies. Acknowledge each type you have.
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Understanding and Engaging the Audience (continued) McKean & Richards
Activity: Using Impromptu Speaking to Emphasize Audiences
Objectives: Students will practice impromptu speaking; students will work on targeting arguments to particular audiences; students will reflect on audience types Materials: Two sets of notecards Before Class: Create two sets of notecards. One set represents different potential audiences. The other represents different products. Some audiences and products should not easily fit together (for example, selling cat food to an audience of dog owners). Procedures
1. Have students take turns drawing an audience card and a product card 2. Students should analyze their audience
a. What does your audience want? b. What is your audience likely going to think about your product? c. What assumptions can you make about the people in your audience?
3. Students then develop a short (1-2 minutes) speech advertising the product to the audience they have chosen
4. Students deliver their short speech to a partner, to groups, or to the whole class that sells the product they chose to the audience they chose
Reflection Questions
1. What choices did you make to adapt to your audience? 2. What qualities of the product did you emphasize? Not emphasize? 3. Was your audience likely to be receptive to your product? Why or why not? 4. How would you classify your audience in relation to your product?
a. Hostile or favorable? b. Informed or uninformed? c. Interested or uninterested?
5. How did these classifications shape your strategies?
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Teaching Argument Types and Fallacies McKean & Richards
Fallacies • Failed attempts at argumentation • Related to argument types • Three types of fallacies
• Data does not support the claim • The warrant does not link the data and claim together • The claim itself is flawed
Post hoc fallacy • “False Cause” • Assuming that because B comes after A, A caused B • Assuming that correlation and causation are the same thing
o Ex: The University raised tuition last year. Grades in CMN 111 courses also decreased. That must mean that increased tuition causes lower grades in CMN 111.
Slippery Slope
• “If we take an action, there will be dire consequences” • If we take one step onto the “slippery slope,” we will end up sliding all the way to the bottom. • Slippery slope arguments are fallacious only if each step on the “slippery slope” is not well
documented. Ad hominem
• “Against the person” • Ad hominem: Focusing on the person you’re arguing against, rather than their argument. • An ad hominem argument is fallacious only when the attack on the person is irrelevant to their
argument. Tu Quoque
• “You too!” • Tries to prove the other person wrong by accusing them of doing the thing they are arguing
about (hypocrisy). • Again, distracts from the substance of the argument. • Example: “Grandma told me that you used to stay out late when you were my age...why
should I have a curfew?” Straw man
• Setting up a weaker, more ridiculous argument and arguing against that instead of your opponent’s real argument.
• Ex: “The other party has suggested we make cuts to Social Security. Why do they want to kill grandma?”
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Argument Types Argument About Causes Example “Something happened, therefore we can predict that something else will happen in the future” (D) I studied for my test (C) I will do well on my test
(W) Studying causes me to do well on tests Argument Based on Deduction Basic Form “I can say this is true based on a general rule” (D) A is a member of category B (C) A is also a member of
category C
(W) A general rule tells us that members of category B also
belong to category C Argument Based on Deduction Example “I can say this is true based on a general rule” (D) John Smith is a professor at U of I (C) John Smith has a PhD
(W) Professors must have PhDs before they will be hired.
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Argument By Sign Basic Model “According to my observation, this is true.”
(D) X is observed. (C) We may assume Y.
(W) X is a sign of Y. Argument By Sign Example “According to my observation, this is true.” (D) Lucy is bleeding profusely. (C) Lucy must have Ebola.
(W) Profuse bleeding is a sure sign of Ebola. Motivational Arguments Basic Form “If we act now, something good will happen. I know we all want something good to happen.”
(D) Action X will result in Y. (C) You should do X.
(W) You want result Y.
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Motivational Arguments Example “If we act now, something good will happen. I know we all want something good to happen.” (D) If you use your phone in class, (C) You should keep your phone away.
I will get angry
(W) You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
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Monroe’s Motivate Sequence
Created by Alan Monroe, a rhetoric professor, in 1930
Inspired by advertising
Way of structuring an argument that is: • Powerful • Memorable • Persuasive
MMS Basics 1. Get your audience’s attention 2. Convince your audience that there is a need that requires satisfying or a
problem that needs to be solved. 3. Demonstrate how that need can best be satisfied
by presenting a solution. 4. Help the audience visualize the solution working in the future. 5. Get the audience to do something to carry out the solution through direct
action.
MMS: In Short 1. Attention 2. Problem / Cause 3. Solution 4. Visualization 5. Action
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Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: Example McKean & Richards
Note: Here is my annotated copy of JK Rowling’s 2008 commencement address, which I have used to illustrate Monroe’s Motivated Sequence in action.
“The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.”
Harvard University, 2008
[ATTENTION] The first thing I would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I have endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion.
Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can’t remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, the law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.
You see? If all you remember in years to come is the ‘gay wizard’ joke, I’ve come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals: the first step to self improvement.
Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that have expired between that day and this. [HOW DOES SHE GET HER AUDIENCE’S ATTENTION? HOW DOES SHE TARGET HER ATTENTION STEP TO HER AUDIENCE / THE SITUATION? WHAT CHALLENGES DOES ROWLING OVERCOME IN THIS ATTENTION STEP?]
I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life’, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination. [PREVIEW STATEMENT]
These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.
Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal
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quirk that would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension. I know that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now.
So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents’ car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.
I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.
I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.
What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.
At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.
I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.
[PROBLEM section begins to develop – note how she targets her audience here…]
However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.
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[WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Students don’t understand failure, see it as a thing to be feared, not as an opportunity to learn.]
Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea then how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.
[SOLUTION BEGINS]
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.
Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies.
The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned.
So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes. {STOP 11:12}
[WHAT IS HER SOLUTION?] [VISUALIZATION / ACTION STEP BEGINS]
[START: 17:29] One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.
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That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.
But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.
If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.
I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.
So today, I wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:
As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
I wish you all very good lives. Thank you very much]
WHAT IS HER ACTION STEP?
How does she relate to her audience?
What choices does she make to relate to her audience?
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In job interviews, prospective employers will often ask for what has come to be called a “career narrative.” This narrative is meant to be an opportunity for the candidate to identify a few key moments in their life that guided their decisions and brought them to the juncture where they see themselves moving into the job in question. Writing a career narrative is a useful exercise because it enables you to share a significant part of your life history by honing in on a few formative moments and articulating just what made them so formative. In this sense, it is also a good exercise in making rhetorical choices that are appropriate to a given speech (or, in this case, writing) situation.
To reflect upon your history and goals as a public speaker, you will craft a narrative of your public speaking experience. Be selective about the events you choose to discuss—this essay should give a detailed, thoughtful account of a few formative experiences, not a chronological list of each situation in which you have uttered words in public!
Think back through your personal history to one or two public speaking moments that had a significant impact on you. What role did you play in this particular moment? Where and when did it occur? Who were the various people involved? Why was this situation so uniquely influential in your “public speaking career”? What might it indicate about your potential strengths and challenges as a speaker in this public classroom? This writing assignment should provide a brief narrative of your most formative experience with public speaking, whether as a speaker or as a listener. It should also identify and discuss some of your potential strengths and weaknesses as a public speaker. Finally, this paper should outline your goals for this course. Give this paper substantial thought in order to set the course for your experience in this class.
Papers should be typed in 2-3 double-spaced pages, with one-inch margins and 12 point Times New Roman font. Be sure to turn in an electronic copy of your paper by uploading it to WISE (under the “Assignments” tab).
Public Speaking Narrative Excellent Good Adequate Poor
Description of formative speaking experience
Discussion of strengths and challenges
Descriptions of specific goals for course
Clarity / quality of writing Spelling / grammar Appropriate length and depth
Total: / 25
Public Speaking Due by pm
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Public Speaking Speaking Assignment 2: Declamation Most of the speeches that you will craft and present in this course will be extemporaneous or impromptu, so that they incorporate your ability to create and organize a great speech together with your ability to deliver it well. In order to incorporate another kind of speaking and to practice elements of great delivery, this assignment challenges you to deliver an excellent expressive reading of a text of your choice.
Your assignment includes four aspects: 1. Select a passage from a speech, short story, poem, or article and modify it (if
necessary) so that it can be delivered within the time constraints of 3-4 minutes. 2. Be prepared to describe the context and authorship of your text to the audience
at the beginning of your presentation (we’ll just need to know who wrote it, when it was written, and where you found it). You might also tell us why you selected the text or why it is meaningful to you.
3. Practice delivering the text with excellent expression, focusing on the principles of good delivery that we read about and discussed in class. Your vocal inflection, rate, and pitch will be particularly important.
4. Remember that your body language speaks volumes. To do an outstanding job, practice enough that you will be able to speak with confidence, and use your gestures / body movement to emphasize the meaning or feeling of the message.
On the day of your presentation, turn in: • A copy of the text • A bibliography detailing where you obtained the text and any sources you
used to learn about its history / context (cited according to a standard style guide such as MLA.)
Tips for Success: * Be aware of the differences between language that is written to be read and that
which is composed to be spoken. Some texts do not work well as manuscripts for oral presentation. Those that do often include narratives, and other texts with short and straightforward sentences, clear language, and excellent organization.
* If you are not sure what text to use, an excellent bet is to present part of a great speech. Pick a text that you connect with, and interpret it. Use the aspects of your delivery – from your voice to your movement – to bring out the aspects of the text that matter to you, and to maintain audience attention.
* Most speakers can perform 1 typed, double spaced page in 2 minutes. So if your performance is intended to be 3-4 minutes, plan to deliver approximately 1 ½ to 2 pages of text.
* Practice!
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Public Speaking Speaking Assignment 3: Tribute Speech Due: 2/23 and 2/25 In our personal and professional lives, we are often called upon to pay tribute to others—we may give a toast at a wedding, deliver a eulogy, speak at an award ceremony, participate in an anniversary dinner or retirement party, or honor a great idea or accomplishment. Aristotle classified these kinds of speeches (which he called epideictic) as an important form of rhetoric. Epideictic rhetoric, Aristotle noted, performs the powerful functions of drawing a community together, giving a community a model for action, and defining a community’s values. For this assignment, you will prepare and deliver a 4-5 minute speech paying tribute to a person, a group of people, or an organization. Or, if you prefer, you may pay tribute to the most important idea you’ve encountered in your education. The subject of your tribute may be historical or contemporary, famous or obscure. It should simply be someone (or some organization / idea) you admire and that you believe exemplifies important values. One key to delivering a successful tribute speech is to do more than simply describe the accomplishments of the honoree. Rather than providing a lot of information about the honoree or telling random stories, a good tribute speech draws on a few specific examples to make a larger point about a “life lesson” or value the honoree exemplifies.
For instance, a good tribute speech about Abraham Lincoln would not recount his political biography in great detail (describing all of the offices he held and the bills he signed). Instead, it would draw on specific examples to support a thesis like, “Abraham Lincoln was a great American because he risked his own reputation and security to improve the lives of others.” Similarly, a good speech praising a marriage (such as an anniversary talk or wedding toast) wouldn’t just talk about how the couple met or how long they have been together. It would use a few examples or stories about the couple to convey something about what it means to love well. The examples could be humorous or serious, but they should relate to the larger point of the speech. Here’s they key: Don’t just talk about the accomplishments of your honoree. Convey to your audience the specific things that make the honoree extraordinary, and make a point about what the audience should learn or “take away” from this example. As we prepare this assignment, we will work on relating the topic to the audience, crafting a good thesis, organizing material, and speaking (extemporaneously) from a key word outline.
On the day of your presentation, turn in:
• A copy of your strategy report • The note cards from which you speak (with your speaking outline) This presentation is worth 100 points. This speech will be recorded, so you will have the opportunity to view your performance and analyze your progress. We will sign up for speaking times on a first-come, first-served basis in class on 2/18.
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McKean & Richards
Informative Speech Format: 6-8 minute speech. Keyword outline, formal (full sentence) outline, APA bibliography (with at least 5 sources) Objectives: This is a speech in which you will demonstrate your mastery of the skills we have covered thus far: working with sources, summarizing and paraphrasing, conducting research, argumentation, public discourse, and issues and questions of controversy. At this point, you are an expert on your controversy topic. You have studied the history of the issue, the present status, the multiple sides of the controversy, and the language pertinent to your controversy. You have practiced academic research and you have learned how to identify sound scholarly and authoritative sources. Finally, you have begun to recognize how certain questions of fact, value, policy and definition become ways to frame arguments within all public controversies. Assignment Details: What you will turn in: With this speech, you will be expected to turn in the following:
Ø A keyword outline: One sheet, typed. Words and phrases only, unless you are using a direct quotation.
Ø A formal full-sentence outline, with in-text citations. You do not need to write out every word of your speech, but this full sentence outline should give a basic overview of what you will say
Ø A Bibliography attached to the full sentence outline. What you will speak about: The bulk of your speech will consist of informing your classmates about the main issues and questions that arise in your controversy.
1. Begin with an attention getter. Then, CLEARLY identify your controversy and explain what makes it controversial. Then, introduce a clear thesis and preview. Your thesis should be informative, NOT your opinion on your controversy.
For example: “today I will demonstrate how state laws regarding abortion have created a heated controversy over access to abortion services since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling of 1973. First, I will give some background on the Roe v. Wade decision, then I will discuss how some states have tried to deal with abortion since then, finally I will discuss a few common arguments for and against state abortion laws in the United States.”
2. After your introduction, begin with background information and a short history.
This should be concise—no need to trace your topic back to 1783. Carefully choose which details you feel the audience must know to understand the controversy as you discuss it in your speech. Use your history section from your paper to help you.
3. Then, explain the current status of your controversy. Remember what we talked
about regarding status quo and choose those things you feel your audience should know (e.g. What is the current legal status of the controversy? Who are the key
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players in this debate? What terminology and language is central to this controversy?
4. The remainder of the speech will discuss the arguments surrounding your
controversy (much of which you will have learned during your research for the history and current status-you are just organizing these ideas). If you notice issues of Fact, Definition, Value, and Policy, point those out to us and explain why they matter. Again, consider your audience and what they need to know to fully understand the issue.
5. You must verbally cite at least 3 sources during the speech. Cite them clearly! For
example, you might say, “Paul Krugman, an editorial writer for the New York Times, argues that the U.S. economy is falling apart.” OR “According to recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Health, as quoted in this month’s TIME magazine…” And remember your outline should have in-text citations corresponding to these.
6. Your conclusion should summarize the main points and end with a “so-what?” or
why this controversy matters. You should also include a short discussion about why this controversy is relevant to the class. Leave us with something thoughtful.
Delivery:
Ø This is an informative, extemporaneous speech that must be given within the 6-8 min. window. More weight will be given to delivery this time, so be sure to rehearse! You have a 30 second grace period on either side of the 6-8 minutes. Speeches falling outside the required length will lose 3 points per 15-second infraction.
Ø Remember to use the Reporter’s Voice when discussing your controversy. The class
should not be able to identify your position on the topic. If you happen to be a passionately pro-choice Democrat…great…but we shouldn’t be able to figure that out in this speech.
Ø Don’t forget to work on your speaking skills including your extemporaneous
delivery, effective gestures, minimal nonverbal distractions, conversational tone, sound organization, transitions, and pace or rate of speech.
Ø PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! Both for timing and internalizing these ideas.
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McKean & Richards Persuasive Speech
Format: 5-6 minute speech + Q&A from the audience; properly formatted full sentence outline and brief speaking (keyword) outline; properly (MLA) formatted works cited page with at least 4-5 sources Objectives: To argue the most compelling case possible for your particular policy and specifically adapt it to your audience. Assignment Details: Procedure / Q&A session:
• You and your partner will deliver your speeches back-to-back, with each partner arguing their position on your proposition (affirmative & negative).
• After both speeches, you will field 2-3 questions from the audience. You should be prepared to address these questions professionally and fully. Ask for clarification if you do not understand the question and strategically reframe the question if needed. For example: “Good question. Though my research does not specifically address your point about the effect of this policy on children, I can tell you that…”
• As an audience member, pay close attention. Note any questions you want to ask. Each audience member must ask at least one thoughtful, quality questions over the course of the two delivery days. Your participation in Q&A will be factored into your grade.
Content: • This speech should:
1. Get our attention 2. Define the problem(s) 3. Explain how your policy addresses the problem 4. Provide a well-researched analysis of why your audience should get involved
with this problem and what they should do about it (action step) 5. Your action step should be specific and realistic. Don’t just say “raise awareness
about this issue” or “write to Congress.” Tell them who to write to and what to say, or what specifically to read or check out to learn more.
6. Strategically utilize your research and survey data • The speech should very clearly use the rhetorical strategies outlined in your Rhetorical
Strategy Paper. Adapt to the specific characteristics of your audience. • You must cite 4-5 sources aloud. Organization:
• Monroe’s Motivated sequence is the preferred method for organizing this speech. How much time you devote to each section will vary based on your audience’s attitudes about your thesis.
• As always, you should state a clear and concise thesis and preview, develop the thesis with clear main points, support your main points with appropriate
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evidence/research, cite all sources used, effectively transition, summarize your main points and thesis in your conclusion, and open and close with thoughtful remarks.
Delivery:
• This speech, as always, should be extemporaneous. You may even want to engage the audience by asking them questions, sharing what you know about your audience, or mentioning specific people’s names.
• You will be graded on advanced speaking skills: sophisticated non-verbal skills such as gesturing, movement, avoiding verbal fillers (such as “like”), extended eye contact, minimal non-verbal distractions, etc.
• Speaking time: You are allowed a 15 second grace period. I will not allow students to speak after that period is over. This prevents you from a significant point deduction and allows us to stay on schedule.
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Educational and Ethical Dimensions of Debate
I. Educational Dimensions of Teaching Debate
A. Education and Competition
B. Educational Dimensions – Language and speaking – Critical thinking – Expanded perspectives
II. Ethical Dimensions of Teaching Debate
A. Ethics and Competition
B. Moral Purposes of Debate 1. Communicating Responsibly 2. Using Arguments to Resolve Disagreements 3. Using an Adjudicator to Resolve Differences 4. Reaching an Outcome to a Conflict
C. Ethical Guidelines for Debate
1. Employ ethical guidelines for the use of evidence. 2. Employ ethical guidelines for choosing arguments patterns. 3. Implement mutual equality. 4. Interact respectfully with others prior to, during, and after debates. 5. Champion clashes of ideas and reject personal attacks. 6. Engage the clash of ideas toward creating the most elevated, comprehensive,
and well-‐reasoned arguments 7. Debate as a global citizen, active and participatory, toward generatively
embracing vital issues.
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Questions about Ethics for Discussion
• In what ways is each of the four essential features of debate important to the guidelines for
ethical debate?
• Why do arguments in debates sometimes migrate away from the topic and toward the speakers themselves?
• Often debaters are called “opponents.” How is the term, “opponent,” problematic for ethical
debaters? How might that term contribute to character attacks during debates? What other term might be more appropriate?
• Identify ways evidence or use of evidence might be clearly unethical. Why are they unethical?
• How is mutual equality signaled in a debate? What nonverbal cues might indicate one debater
seems to perceive themselves as superior to another? Is that message about the issue or the speaker?
• Relate observed or experienced episodes of disagreement between debaters and adjudicators,
episodes that generated difficulty. How might respect be shown in those circumstances?
• Is everyone a global citizen? Why would it be important for a debater to position himself or herself as a global citizen? What if the issue were a local issue? Are local issues related to global issues? Global issues to local issues?
• What problems arise if debaters choose to be unethical or not as ethical as they could be?
How would these actions function in everyday life after college?
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Managing a student debate organization in a post-‐CDEN era
Goal: To maintain the sustainable development of our tournament in Post-‐CDEN era
Challenge:
Resource Supply Influence Solution:
Increase Income Reduce Expenditures
Establish Incentive Mechanisms Student Centered:
Daily or Weekly Training Management of the Organization Tournament Organizing Why do We Choose Students?
Young Energetic and Passionate Competent Organized to Receive Funding Project Based:
Sponsorship, Money is crucial More Concern for Authority
College Student Innovation Training Program College Student Competition Program Student Social Practice.
Increase Income:
Potential Resources on Campus Teaching and research system
Students Affairs system Students Employment system Alumni Association Overseas Education system
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Tournament Connected: Ss need improve themselves though tournaments. We, teachers need tournaments to communicate with each other. (to prove ourselves.) All levels of tournaments are needed.
Daily Management of the Association:
The committee of the association (5 Ss ) Rely on Ss , believe them. They can do much better than you expect. They only need guidance. Show you concern, but don’t interfere too much. Create a reasonable points system to select better debaters.
:
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!
!
Elements of Argument and Debate Two Sets of Related Concepts Persuasion and Debate Persuasion is a symbolic process where by people try to convince others to change their ideas about ideas, issues, or actions. Debate is one kind of persuasion, but debate is limited to situations where at least two participants are directly engaged with one another about some conflict. In most cases, debates include external adjudicators whose role is to decide the outcome of the conflict. Thus, persuasion is the broader of the two concepts and debate is one kind of persuasion. Arguments and Argumentation Argumentation can be defined as the process whereby an advocate uses arguments to advocate a position. During the process of argumentation, a person uses what are called arguments to communicate their views about the positions they advocate. Arguments includes specific claims, along with supporting material, that a debater introduces during the process of argumentation. The process of argumentation also includes other elements such as refutation, delivery, etc. The illustration below shows the argumentation process along with some other elements included in the process. Those other elements of the argumentation process will be discussed later. !
Argumentation,Process,,!!Arguments!
Refutation!
Delivery!
Stories!
Metaphors!
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! Elements!of!Argument!
!
Components of Arguments Building Global Relations Through Debate will introduce four components of an argument. For the purposes of this discussion, those four components have been simplified and reduced to two components: a claim and supporting material Claims and Supporting Material To be an argument, the claim needs some kind of support. A statement without any kind of support is merely an assertion. When support for the claim is added to the claim itself, it becomes an argument. As stated earlier and as will be further developed in later chapters, many different kinds of materials can be used to support claims. In this chapter, a few examples are presented to clarify the ways that supporting material can be tied to a claim to create an argument. Claim!Supported!By!Evidence The simplest way to think of an argument is that it involves a claim supported by evidence. Evidence is supporting material that has been observed or is potentially observable. The following diagram illustrates a claim supported by evidence.
!
1
! Support!
Claim!
Argument!++!
=!
Argument,
Evidence:!Observations!of!the!
fossil!record!
Claim:!!Humans!evolved!from!other!species!
++!
2
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Elements of Argument !
!
Claim Supported By Explanation Claim Supported by Analogy Claim Supported by Other Claims
Argument,
Explanation:!!When!Robert!was!a!child,!a!snake!bit!
him.!!
Claim:!!Robert!is!afraid!of!
snakes.!++!
Argument,
Analogy:!!Like!Mao!Zedong,!Xi!Jinping!is!taking!China!in!new!and!positive!directions.!
Claim:!!Xi!Jinping!is!one!of!China’s!greatest!
leaders.!!++!
Argument,Claim!One!
Claim!Three!++!
Claim!Two!
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! Elements!of!Argument!
!
A frequent pattern of using claims to support other claims involves combining a descriptive claim with an associational claim to support an evaluative claim. The diagram below illustrates this basic pattern.
Argument,
Descriptive!claim!
Evaluative!Claim!++!
Associational!Claim!
Argument,
Descriptive!claim:!Current!laws!allow!smoking!in!public!
places.!!! Evaluative!Claim:!Smoking!should!not!be!allowed!in!public!
places!++!
Associational!Claim:!Smoking!in!public!places!subjects!nonPsmokers!to!health!
risks.!!
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The Quality of Arguments: Fallacies in Argumentation I. Criteria for Logical Assessment of Arguments
A. Arguments are more or less cogent.
B. Johnson and Blair Model of Argument Cogency
C. Johnson and Blair’s Model applied to the Structure of Argument
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Fallacies
D. The Standard of Acceptability
Evidence must be acceptable to the judge or audience before the argument can proceed. (common knowledge, accepted by published sources or a recognized expert, construction of a cogent sub-argument).
E. The Standard of Relevance
The standard of relevance asks whether the link successfully connects the evidence to the claim.
F. The Standard of Sufficiency
The standard of sufficiency asks if that link is good enough to convince an audience of the claim. In other words, does the link fully transfer the acceptability of the evidence to that of the claim?
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Fallacies
II. Fallacies and Argument Adequacy
A. Three Basic Fallacies: One fallacy is linked to each of the three criteria mentioned above.
1. Problematic Premises. Unacceptable evidence usually results in a claim that is unsuccessful at gaining support of the audience or judge.
a. Complete lack of evidence is a fallacy wherein the debater provides no evidence at all for his or her claim.
b. Begging the question is a fallacy that occurs in an argument when
the evidence is essentially the same as the claim. Because the evidence and the claim are the same, the argument essentially contains no evidence at all.
c. The fallacy of incompatibility occurs when one piece of evidence is
incompatible with another.
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Fallacies
2. Irrelevant Reason: In combination with all evidence offered, this fallacy fails to minimally satisfy the criteria of relevance (65-67).
Johnson and Blair present an example of that fallacy in their text:
A Member of Parliament in Canada once charged, in the House of Commons, that the Federal Department of Health and Welfare had been cooperating with the Kellogg Company in permitting the sale of a cereal (Kellogg’s Corn Flakes) that had “little or no nutritional value.” Marc Lalonde, then the Minister of Health seeking to rebut that charge stated: “As for the nutritional value of Corn Flakes, the milk you have with your Corn Flakes has great nutritional value” (65-66).
a. Argument ad hominem: an attack on the arguer’s character or background that is not relevant to the argument.
b. An argument of straw: a debater construes the argument of another
to be other than what it is, then, attacks the misconstrued argument rather than the actual argument. Following the metaphor of “argument of straw,” the debater reconstructs the original argument into a weaker argument of straw, then attacks that argument rather than the original one.
c. A red herring fallacy is another argument that shifts the focus away
from the current discussion to an argument that is similar to but different from the current argument in the hopes that the topic of the discussion will be changed in ways that are irrelevant to the original topic.
d. Poisoning the well is a fallacious argument that attempts to
discredit a person or a source in advance of their argument.
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Fallacies
e. Guilt by association is a fallacious attempt to attack a person’s
argument not on the issues pertinent to the argument, but on the basis of groups and people with whom the person is associated.
f. An appeal to fear involves an attempt to invoke fear to take the
focus off the argument. An appeal to fear is only fallacious when fear is used solely to shift the focus from the issue. For example, “If we elect my opponent, we should all build bomb shelters for our families immediately and prepare to be attacked because my opponent has very little foreign policy experience.”
g. An appeal to popularity uses the popularity of a person, product, or
belief to justify a favorable conclusion about that person, product or belief.
h. An appeal to tradition attempts to argue in favor of a particular
action on the grounds of tradition rather than on the basis of the merits of that action. Hasty Conclusions. The general fallacy category of hasty conclusions is sometimes called “jumping to a conclusion.” This general category of fallacies is one wherein all of the evidence and arguments that the debater offers, taken in combination with one another, do not meet the test of sufficiency.
3. Hasty generalization, the first example, is a fallacy of reasoning by example. Arguments commit that fallacy when the examples selected to support the claim are insufficient either in number or in their representativeness.
a. Slippery slope arguments sometimes are fallacious. Using such arguments, debaters try to connect a series of events in a causal chain that ultimately “culminate[s] in calamity” (Govier, 439).
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Fallacies
Contrary to popular opinion, slippery slope arguments are not necessarily fallacies (Volokh and Newman; Walton). They only are fallacies when all of the connections in the causal chain are not properly made.
b. Two wrongs is a label used for a fallacy commonly called “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” As “a misplaced appeal to consistency. A person is urged to accept or condone one thing that is wrong because another similar thing, also wrong, has occurred or has been accepted and condoned” (Govier 444).
c. Improper appeal to practice is a fallacy that assumes that a person
is justified in doing things that are common practice, even if that practice is clearly wrong.
d. Fallacy of composition is a fallacy in which the evidence is drawn
from some part of a whole, but the conclusion is about the whole (Govier 439). “He Jingkai, a debater from China, is a superb debater. Therefore, China has some of the best debaters in the world.”
e. Fallacy of division involves a fallacious argument in which the
evidence is drawn from the whole, but the conclusion is about a part of the whole. The argument assumes that what is true of the whole must be true of its constituent parts. “Harvard is an excellent university, therefore Lawrence Tribe, who is a law professor at Harvard, must be an excellent professor
f. Post hoc fallacy, also called by its Latin name post hoc, ergo
propter hoc, which means “after this, therefore before this.” This fallacious argument assumes that, because one thing predates another, the first must have caused the second.
g. Faulty analogy is a fallacy that occurs when two cases are
compared to each other but are not similar in terms of the relationship stated in the comparison.
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Speaker Responsibilities for Worlds-‐Style Debate Speaker Speaker Responsibilities
Upper House (First Half of the Debate)
Prime Minister • Defines and interprets the motion • Describes the approach the First Government team will take • Constructs the case for that interpretation of the motion
Leader of Opposition • Establishes a stance that both Opposition teams will defend throughout the debate. • Refutes the case of offered by the Prime Minister. • Constructs one or more arguments against the motion as the Prime Minister interpreted it.
Deputy Prime Minister
• Refutes the arguments presented by the Leader of Opposition. • Rebuilds the case presented by the Prime Minister. • Constructs one or more new arguments supporting the case of the Prime Minister.
Deputy Leader of Opposition
• Continues refutation of case presented by the Prime Minister. • Refutes any new arguments presented by the Deputy Prime Minister. • Rebuilds arguments of the Leader of Opposition • Constructs one or more new arguments supporting those presented by the Leader of the Opposition.
Lower House (Second Half of the Debate)
Member of Government
• Supports the general direction and case of the First Government team. • Briefly continues refutation of First Opposition team’s arguments • Refutes new arguments introduced by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. • Constructs at least one new argument that is different from but consistent with the case of the 1st
Government (sometimes called an extension).
Member of Opposition • Supports the general direction taken by the First Opposition team. • Briefly continues refutation of the case of the First Government team. • Refutes arguments introduced by the Member of Government. • Constructs at least one new argument (extension) that is different from but consistent with the case of the
1st Opposition.
Government Whip • Refutes the extension offered by the Member of Opposition. Sometimes this refutation can be folded into the overall summary of the debate.
• Summarizes the entire debate from the point of view of the Government, defending the general viewpoint of both Government teams, with a special eye toward the case of the Second Government team. This overall summary may include a defense of the Member of Government’s extension.
• Usually does not provide new arguments.
Opposition Whip • Refutes the extension offered by the Member of Government. Sometimes this refutation can be folded into the overall summary of the debate.
• Summarizes the entire debate from the point of view of the opposition, defending the general viewpoint of both Opposition teams with a special eye toward the case of the Second opposition. This overall summary may include a defense of the Member of Opposition’s extension.
• Does not provide new arguments.
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Outline of a Prime Minister Speech Supporting a Policy Motion
Introduction Motion for debate: Definition and interpretation: Define any ambiguous terms
Narrow the motion by clearly interpreting the motion to include what the Government will defend.
Statement of advocacy:
Usually the statement of advocacy includes a model of the motion as interpreted by the Government.
Speech preview: Argument 1: Argument 2: Conclusion
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Exercises for Creating a Prime Minister Speech 1. Present a motion to a group of debaters who are divided into teams of two persons each.
Give them 5 minutes to discuss the motion and create their definitions and interpretations of that motion and craft their statement of advocacy. Give each team 1 minute to present their definitions, interpretations, and statement of advocacy.
2. Present a motion to a group of debaters who are divided into teams of two persons . Give
them 15 minutes to discuss the motion and to create a Prime Minister’s speech for the motion. Give each team 3 minutes to present an outline of their speech. After each team has presented their outline, discuss the cases focusing on the arguments suggested as well as whether the outline suggests the speech meets the fundamental obligations of the Prime Minister speech.
3. Modify the exercise listed above by presenting the motion to a single team of two persons
and have one of those persons present a full Prime Minister’s speech. Discuss the speech in terms of the cogency of the arguments and how well the speech fulfills the basic obligations of the Prime Minister speech
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trodu tio Motio for bat Stat m t of Ad o a : Expl t upp t tatu qu , upp t tatu
u w t m n a ju tm nt , upp t a c unt al Sp r i w: futatio :
Present Arguments against the Government’s Interpretation of the motion. rgum t 1: rgum t 2
Co lu io :
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Exercise for Creating a Leader of Opposition Speech Present a sample Prime Minister speech to a group of debaters who are divided into teams of two persons each. After they listen to the Prime Minister’s speech, give them 10 minutes to discuss the speech and to create at least one argument showing how the Government proposal will not solve the problem. Present a sample Prime Minister speech to a group of debaters who are divided into teams of two persons each. After they listen to the Prime Minister’s speech, give them 10 minutes to discuss the speech and to create at least one argument showing how the Government proposal will create more problems than it will solve.
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Outline of a Deputy Prime Minister Speech
Introduction: Rebuilding case of Prime Minister: Rebuild
Argument 1 • The Prime Minister’s argument was X • The leader of opposition offered Y in response • State why X is an inadequate refutation of the Prime Minister’s argument • Explain why X is an inadequate refutation • Thus the Prime Minister’s argument still stands
Rebuild Argument 2, etc. (follow same procedure as above)
Refute any new argument offered by the Leader of Opposition: Refute argument 1 • “The LO said” (state the PM’s argument) • “But I say” (state your refutation) • “Because” (explain your refutation) • Therefore (explain the importance of your refutation. Refute argument 2 (follow the same procedure as above) Offer 1 or more additional arguments of your own. Argument 1
Argument 2
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Template for Deputy Leader of Opposition Speech
Introduction: Rebuilding argument of Leader of Opposition
Rebuild Argument 1 • The Leader of Opposition argument was X • The Deputy Prime Minister offered Y in response • State why X is an inadequate refutation of the Leader of Opposition’s argument • Explain why X is an inadequate refutation • Thus the Leader of Opposition’s argument still stands
Rebuild Argument 2, etc. (follow same procedure as above)
Refute any new argument offered by the Deputy Prime Minister: Refute argument 1 • “The DPM said” (state the DPM argument) • “But I say” (state your refutation) • “Because” (explain your refutation) • Therefore (explain the importance of your refutation. Refute argument 2 (follow the same procedure as above) Offer 1 or more additional arguments of your own. Argument 1
Argument 2
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Outline for a Member of Government Speech
trodu tio : Bri fl d f d t sta ta b t Fir t Go r m t T am Bri fl r fut argum t from O a d O:
I nt t a a cla b tw n t t G nm nt an t Opp t n t am an t n p nt y u utat n lat t t u .
I n a , p nt m p utat n an a t nal a gum nt p nt b O.
u t p utat n m t
“ a . . .” “But w a . . .” “B au . . .” “ . . .”
xt d t d bat : ( a at l a t 4 mi ut for t i part of our sp
nt n w a gum nt t at a c n t nt w t but nt m t p nt b t t G nm nt am. n w a gum nt ul t ngu y u m t t G nm nt t am w l ma n ng l al t
th m. Y u a gum nt mu t b nt m t G nm nt but mu t upp t t m l. Y u cann t c ang am n t m el. Y u can ext n t bat in a numb wa in lu ng but n t n a l l m t t
A n w a gum nt
An ext n n an a gum nt b l m nt n b t t nm nt t am t at u m in pt e n , exampl , an
a n ng. A u ca tu
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Outline for a Member of Opposition Speech
trodu tio : Bri fl d f d t sta ta b t Fir t Oppo itio am Bri fl r fut argum t from d M:
I nt t a a cla b tw n t t G nm nt an t Opp t n t am an t n p nt y u utat n lat t t u .
I n a , p nt m p utat n an a t nal a gum nt p nt b M.
u t p utat n m t
“ a . . .” “But w a . . .” “B au . . .” “ . . .”
xt d t d bat : ( a at l a t 4 mi ut for t i part of our sp
nt n w a gum nt t at a c n t nt w t but nt m t p nt b t t Opp t n am. n w a gum nt ul t ngu y u m t t Opp t n t am w l ma n ng l al t
th m. Y u a gum nt mu t b nt m t Opp t n but mu t upp t t m l. Y u cann t c ang am n t stan . u , i t
n t tatu qu a c unt p p al, y u mu t n t am . Y u can ext n t bat in a numb wa in lu ng but n t n a l l m t t
A n w a gum nt
An ext n n an a gum nt b l m nt n b t t nm nt t am t at u m in pt e n , exampl , an
a n ng. A u ca tu
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Exercise for Extending the Debate as Member of Government or Member of Opposition 1. Have a group of debaters listen to the first half of an on-line debate. Such a debate can be found at: Willamette.edu/cla/china_debate or at a variety of other places on the internet. Then have the debaters in groups of two discuss possible extension arguments that might be made in the Member of Government speech and two possible extension arguments that might be made in the Member of Opposition speech. Then the debaters should take two minutes to present their ideas to the other members of the group.
2. Based on the information generated in Exercise #1, have the debaters construct and present a complete Member of Government speech to be followed by constructive criticism. 3. Based on the information generated in Exercise #1, have the debaters construct and present a complete Member of Government speech to be followed by constructive criticism.
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Outline for a Government Whip Speech
trodu tio : urpo of W ip Sp :
an n t an a u at c mpa n t tw in t bat .
m n t at t up t t nm nt in tbat . g l g t t c nt but n ma b t S n G nm nt
t am.
futatio : R ut an ext n n n w a gum nt p nt b t M mb Opp t n. utat n can b p nt tl it can b l int t W’ umma .
Summariz t d bat :
n’t t t in lu e a gum nt in y u umma , ju t
t m t mp tant n . n’t ju t in lu t a gum nt ma b y u , but
c mpa y u ’ a gum nt w t t t t . Summa t bat m a “ g p p t ” l k t v wp nt a ju g au n m mb .
ow to orga iz t summar :
R p at ng m t b t b t a gum nt ma b y u (an u t am an expla n w t a t b t
a gum nt in t bat . R g up ng m t umma t bat b g up ng t a gum nt a ng t m p n pl , i . tak l ,
pl n , t , et . R am ng m t umma t bat a ng t
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Outline for Opposition Whip Speech
trodu tio : urpo of W ip Sp :
an n t an a u at c mpa n t tw in t bat .
m n t at t up t t Opp t n in t bat .
g l g t t c nt but n ma b t S n Opp t n team.
futatio : R ut an ext n n n w a gum nt p nt b t M mb nm nt. utat n can b p nt tl it can b l int
th OW’ mma .
Summariz t d bat : n’t t t in lu e a gum nt in y u umma , ju t t m t
mp tant n . n’t ju t in lu t a gum nt ma b y u , but c mpa y u ’ a gum nt w t t t t .
Summa t bat m a “ g p p t ” l k t v wp nt a ju g au n m mb .
ow to orga iz t summar :
R p at ng m t b t b t a gum nt ma b y u (an u t am an expla n w t a t b t a gum nt in t bat .
R g up ng m t umma t bat b g up ng t a gum nt a ng t m p n pl , i . tak l , pl n , t , et . R am ng m t umma t bat a ng t un am ntal u t n t at a in nt in t i u b ng bat .
o ot pr t w argum t
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Exercise for Creating Summary Arguments in Whip Speeches Provide a debate motion to a group of students. In groups of 2, ask them to write down the main arguments they would expect each side to make. Then, construct a summary framework for the Government side that could crystalize the debate they imagine might have happened about this topic. Then do the same thing for the other side of this topic.
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Refutation and Rebuilding
Four Step Refutation:
Step One: Clearly state the argument you intend to refute. “They say . . .”
“My opponents said that education policies are already being reformed.”
Step Two: State your refutation to their argument “But I say . . .”
“But these educational reforms referred to by my opponents are merely cosmetic.”
Step Three: Relate your refutation to the argument you are refuting “Because . . .”
“The reforms mentioned by my opponent do not solve the essential problems of employment opportunities or social benefits, and thus are just cosmetic.”
Step Four: Show the judge or the audience the importance of your refutation. “Therefore . . .”
“My opponent’s argument is not sufficient to suggest that changes to education policy are unnecessary.”
General Rebuttal Tips: (1) Do you know how much rebuttal you are supposed to do? Be certain.
(2) Listen very carefully before you even try to think of rebuttal. Small details can be crucial. (3) Save nothing for later – refute as hard as you can, as soon as you can. (4) Good rebuttal combines accurate criticisms of your opponent, with references to your own team’s case.
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Five Steps to Rebuilding Your Original Argument Step 1: Identify the original argument. “We said . . .” “Our original argument was that educational reform is a necessity.” Step 2: Identify the refutation to the original argument. “Our opponents said. . .” “Our opponents refuted the argument by saying that education is already being
reformed Step 3: State the assessment of the opponent’s refutation. “But we say . . .” “But we say the refutation offered by our opponents is insufficient.” Step 4: Explain the details of your assessment. “Because . . .” “The reforms mentioned by the opposition are cosmetic, and taken as a whole,
current reforms do not provide the kinds of reforms that are needed.” Step 5: Re-‐establish the original argument in light of the refutation. “Therefore. . .” “Therefore, our original argument that reform is a necessity still stands, even in
light of the opposition’s refutation.”
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Exercises for Refutation and Rebuilding Exercise #1 refutation: This exercise involves two students. Have the first student present a two-‐minute speech that offers one argument in support of some action or proposal. Have the second student present one point of refutation in response to this argument. This refutation should carefully follow the four-‐step refutation process. Exercise #2 refutation: This exercise involves one student constructing an argument and several other students responding to that argument. One student will present a five-‐minute speech that involves two or three arguments in support of some action or proposal. The other students will, using the four-‐step method of refutation, construct at least three points of refutation about the arguments in the speech. Then, the group will discuss the points of refutation. Exercise #3 refutation and rebuilding: This exercise involves two or three students. Have the first student present a two-‐minute speech that offers one argument in support of some action or proposal. Have the second student present one point of refutation in response to this argument. The refutation should carefully follow the four-‐step refutation process. Then either the first or the third student will carefully rebuild the original argument using the five-‐step rebuilding process.
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Points of Information (POI)
Describing Points of Information: • During their opponents’ speeches debaters may get the opportunity to raise a point
• The opportunity to raise a point occurs only with the permission of the opponent
who is speaking • These points, questions or arguments are called points of information
Raising Points of Information
• The debaters for the government team may request points of information from members of the opposition teams and vice versa
• POIs can be requested after the 1st minute of a speech and prior to the last minute
of the speech
• To request POIs, a debater rises and raises their hand
• If the speaker accepts the point, then the debater has a maximum of 15 seconds to make the point
Accepting and Refusing Points of Information
• The debater giving the speech has the authority to accept or refuse the POI • To refuse a POI, the debater may say something like “No thank you” or “not at this
time” or may simply use a hand gesture to indicate the person should take return to their seat
• To accept a POI, simply say something like, “your point please” • Debaters should quickly indicate whether or not the point will be accepted • The debater should finish their sentence prior to accepting the point • Debaters should accept at least 1 and no more than 3 points during their speech
Responding to Points of Information • Respond to the point immediately • Respond to the point confidently • Don’t allow the opponent to follow up with additional questions
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Exercise for Offering and Responding to Points of Information This exercise can be used for one student speaker and up to six other students who will offer points of information. Have one student deliver a standard Prime Minister speech. This student should be instructed to accept as many offers of points of information as possible, even if it causes the student to exceed the time limit. Other students in the audience should rise to offer points of information as often as they can think of them. Discussion that follows should focus on the effectiveness of both the offers of points of information as well as on the effectiveness of the responses.
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China Debate Education Network Curriculum Outline
Mechanics of Judging Worlds Style Debate I. Role as a Judge Notes
A. Conducting the debate 1. Do not start the debate until all
debaters and judges are present. 2. Introduce the debate. 3. Introduce each speaker in turn. 4. Be prepared to keep time. 5. After the debate, temporarily
dismiss the debaters. 6. After the decision is reached,
reconvene the debaters, announce the rankings and provide oral feedback.
II. Filling out the Ballot
1. Rank Teams 1-‐4 2. Give Speaker Points
III. Ranks and Speaker Points 1. Speaker points technically run from 1 -‐
100. 2. 75 Points is the average
3. To rank higher than 85 the debater should have strong points, be well organized and very persuasive 4. To rank lower than 65 the debater must be totally disorganized or demonstrate poor argumentation skills
IV. The Decision Process 1. Consensus Judging 2. Taking Notes V. Judge as Reasonable and Impartial 1. Judge the topic at hand
2. Do not judge what DID NOT happen in the round
3. Do not judge on preconceived views 4. Be reasonable and impartial
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VI. Judge Effective Argumentation 1. Evaluate content for both reasoning and impact 2. Questions to answer a. Who does the best job on key issues?
b. Who explains not only claims but reasons and evidence? c. Who best crafts their arguments? d. Who maintains logical consistency? e. How relevant are the arguments to the debate and motion?
VII. Judging agenda setting
1. Does the debater create and contribute to the overall agenda of the debate?
2. Does the debater work to ensure that the threads of argument he or she has introduced are discussed throughout the entire debate?
VII. Judging Role Fulfillment
1. Role Fulfillment is secondary a. It comes after judging argumentation b. Sometimes debaters can be rewarded
for departing from their role when circumstances dictate