Intermediate Debate Skills

What Is an Intermediate Debater?

Introduction

Intermediate debaters should debate in the junior varsity (JV) division. While students who have completed one season of debate must start in the JV division, you may have students in their first year who should consider moving up. Junior varsity is distinct from the novice division in its increased variety of arguments. JV debaters have more arguments to pick from and combine, making the average round less predictable than its novice equivalent; JV debaters both attack and defend from multiple positions, strategically narrowing down their arguments to only their strongest ones by the end of the round. This means that JV debaters must prepare more before tournaments and be adaptable in rounds. This section highlights issues to consider when deciding how ready a novice debater is to participate in more rigorous rounds.

Skills Intermediate Debaters Have Honed

Intermediate debaters should be comfortable with:

• Argument Structure (ARE)

• Responding to arguments (DR. MO)

• Impact comparison (MR. T)

• Structure of an affirmative case/1AC (HIPS/SHIP)

• Structure of a disadvantage

Skills Intermediate Debaters Will Develop

Intermediate debaters will learn how to analyze and make arguments about individual pieces of evidence, and develop organizational and strategic skills to help them work with a greater quantity and variety of arguments:

• Argument Selection

• Evidence comparison (ABCD)

• Flowing on multiple sheets of paper

Considerations for moving a novice debater up to junior varsity

Here are a few things to think about when deciding whether or not a student is ready to compete in JV/should be considered an intermediate debater:

• Evidence comprehension: Does the student understand the evidence well enough to explain it in their own words? Are they able to write their own evidence extensions, or do they need to have cards explained to them? Are they able to answer cross-examination confidently and accurately? If a student still struggles with the novice evidence, introducing even more can be overwhelming.

• Navigating the resource/evidence packet: Is the student able to find pieces of evidence from the packet on their own, or do they seem lost beyond where to go for the 1AC and 1NC? With additional evidence and arguments available in higher divisions, it’s important for students to be able to identify and pull out relevant evidence mid-round.

• Flexibility and spontaneous argumentation: Students in upper divisions must be ready to debate a wider variety of arguments and be able to rely on their own original arguments in addition to the evidence. Debaters who struggle to adapt what they’ve prepared to an opponent’s specific arguments will have a very hard time in junior varsity.

• Flowing habits: Junior varsity debates tend to go at a faster pace and have more arguments to follow. A debater who does not try to flow everything (either because they find it too difficult or unimportant) will likely be lost in a junior varsity round. While students are not expected to be anywhere near perfect flowers, to grow as debaters they must work on developing the skill so that they can respond to arguments and make strategic decisions.