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Middle School JV Curriculum Guide
Asking (and Answering) Questions
During cross-examination in Junior Varsity debates, you’ll still want to set up the arguments you hope to make later in the debate round. Since cross-examination focuses on the speech your opponent just gave, it’s a good time to focus on the cards and evidence that they read. However, it’s also important that you pay attention to what the judge is responding to. If they’re nodding along, then they might like your questions, while if they seem alarmed, you might be doing something wrong. Here are some tips for cross-examination in Junior Varsity debate:
Asking Questions About Evidence
Cross-examination is one of the best times to set up your evidence comparison. The goal of cross-examination is to ask questions that you already know the answer to, and you want those answers to help your side. ABCD can help us identify parts of an opponents’ card to attack, but you must phrase everything as a question. Sometimes, you’ll need to ask multiple questions to get your point across!
Here are some examples of how you should – and shouldn’t –use that strategy in cross-examination:
Author
(Don’t Ask): How is your author qualified?
Problem – it’s too vague. They can say anything they want to in response.
(Don’t Ask): Your author is only a reporter, so they aren’t qualified.
Problem – it’s a statement, not a question.
(Do Ask): Your author is only a reporter, so why should we trust their assertion that a war between the United States and China would go nuclear?
Good – it makes an assertion and then asks a question about it.
Date
(Don’t Ask): Your evidence about low oil prices is from 2009, so isn’t our evidence from 2020 better than yours
Problem – you’re asking them to agree with you, and if they want to win, they won’t.
(Do Ask): (1) When is your evidence about low oil prices from? (2) So, does it factor in all the oil price increases caused by Middle Eastern conflicts since then, per our evidence from 2020?
Good – it gets the other team to agree on an assertion and asks a question about it.
READING THE JUDGE DURING CROSS-EXAMINATION
Judges have different preferences during cross-examination. Some will allow you to tag-team, but others will want you to handle cross-examination by yourself. You should always ask the judge what that allow in cross-examination before you do something that they don’t want you to do.
Cross-examination is the only point in the debate when multiple people are speaking. As a result, it’s important to be polite to everyone else speaking, even if you want to win the round.
It’s important to read the judge’s reactions to what you’re doing to figure out if you’re being too aggressive during cross-examination. If they look alarmed or frustrated, consider backing down somewhat.
Similarly, the judge’s reactions can help you figure out if you’re being too passive. If the other team asks you a question that you need time to answer, a judge who looks bored, concerned, or frustrated isn’t a good sign. This is hard to fix during the round, so you should make sure to come into the round well-prepared!