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Intermediate High School Curriculum Guide
Choosing Arguments
Since you’ll have more arguments as the year goes along, you’ll need to pick and choose which ones to use. You can’t use every argument in every round, so you should pick the ones you like the most and get them ready to go.
Choosing Arguments Before the Round
Here are some key things to consider when you are picking an affirmative, advantage, or disadvantage before the round begins:
Which impact is the best to use in a debate round? Each option you’re given will end with a different impact, so you can think about which ones would be strongest to weigh against your opponents. Also, consider impact quality. Does the argument make sense? Do you think it’s convincing? You’ll have to convince the judge, so it should be persuasive.
Which argument has the highest-quality evidence? The packets are competitively balanced, but sometimes, you might have your own conclusions about our evidence. If you believe one selection of authors is better qualified, or that some of the cards have stronger studies, then use them – that might just give you a strategic advantage when you’re debating!
How many arguments can you read in four minutes? Remember, you’ve got limited speech time. If you can read every advantage or disadvantage with enough time, go for it! Otherwise, you can highlight only the underlined words that support your assertion and try again, or you can use only the advantage or disadvantage that you like the most.
Choosing Arguments During the Round
But you don’t just pick and choose your arguments at the start of a round. You should also pick your best arguments to emphasize during the round! For example, if you’ve read two advantages when you’re affirmative, you don’t have to extend both. Similarly, when you’re negative, you should pick one disadvantage to focus on in your final speech so you can emphasize it! Here are some tips for figuring out which of your arguments to go for.
In order to use this flow chart, you must have a good flow! If you have any questions about what was said in the debate round, either ask your partner or ask during cross-examination.
