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Middle School Novice Curriculum Guide
Picking the 2A and the 2N
Before you can prepare for your first tournament, you should decide who is going to do what work in the partnership. You should always keep your preparation focused.
To that end, you and your partner should determine speaker positions. Speaker positions designate who gives what speech when. The speaker position will change depending on what side – aff or neg – you are assigned in a particular debate. There are two sets of speaker positions: the 2A/1N and the 2N/1A.
The 2A/1N – or “2A” for short – is the second affirmative speaker and the first negative speaker. The 2A will give the 2AC and 2AR during your affirmative debates, and the 1NC and 1NR in your negative debates; you will never have to give four speeches in one debate. Since the 2A gives the last affirmative speech, they are considered the “captain of the affirmative ship” and they should primarily work on affirmative preparation and strategy. For more advanced divisions, the 2A can also determine which particular affirmative their team reads among the list of options.
The 2N/1A – or “2N” for short – is the second negative speaker and the first affirmative speaker. The 2N will give the 2NC and 2NR during your negative debates, and the 1AC and 1AR in your affirmative debates. As the captain of the negative ship, the 2N directs and should primarily work on negative preparation and arguments. They can determine the block split for the 2NC and 1NR.