Ask Jim about Debate
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Breaking Down Barriers: Ask Jim about Debate |
You can submit questions too, just email Jim at hansonjb@whitman.edu
Thanks to Steve Rowe for providing this:
Constructing a critique is much like constructing a disadvantage. A critique has some sort of link and a reason to reject which is the impact. Critiques do not normally have brinks or uniqueness. One must be careful when designing a critique that it is not just a non-unique disadvantage that is being created. The impact cards should explain why rejection of the offending attribute is necessary not just why such an attribute is bad.
To begin with, go to the library and research your critique position or otherwise gain access to pieces of evidence (cards). Look for evidence talking about the subject you are writing the critique on. Examples of critique topics would be racism, sexism, paternalism, liberty, etc. This evidence will most likely be found in law journals and books, not in newspapers and magazines. Don't be afraid to use older sources for a critique. Timeliness is less of an issue when dealing with such issues.
Next, take your pieces of evidence and tag them. This means writing sentences that summarize the main thesis of the evidence. Tagging is covered in more detail elsewhere in this book.
Once all of your evidence is cut and tagged, decide what function each piece should accomplish. Most of your cards will fall into one of three categories. They might be link evidence, stating that something represents or causes the offending attribute. They might also be impact evidence. These are cards stating that the offending attribute is wrong and should be rejected. The final category for cards is the second-line answers. These are sometimes referred to at "versus" or "answer" cards. They are those cards that you would use to answer a possible challenge to the critique. Cards stating that the racism in the status quo is all the more reason for us to reject any further racist policies are good examples. Divide your cards up into these three piles.
After dividing your evidence into stacks, decide which cards are of the highest quality and use them in your critique shell. The rest of the cards should go on separate briefs used to defend and enhance the critique in later speeches. It is probably best to choose one generic link card and one or two impact cards for the shell.
Once you have the evidence chosen, it is time to brief it. Title the page with the name of the critique. Next, write the thesis of the critique. This is a few sentences that explain what the judge and the other team are about to hear which is read prior to the first piece of evidence in the critique. For example, in a racism critique, the following might be a good thesis: The affirmative plan is based upon a racist premise. Racism is so destructive that it must be rejected at every point possible. The racism underlying the affirmative plan warrants rejection of the affirmative.
The next portion of the critique is the link. The link consists of one or two cards that explain why the opposing team's arguments are racist, sexist, etc. Following the link come the impact card(s). This card or cards explain why the offending attribute is bad and should be rejected. These cards should explain why there must be a prima facie rejection of the offensive trait and not just why racism, sexism, etc. are bad.
The final section of
the critique should be an explanation of how the critique should
be weighed against the rest of the debate and why the judge
should vote on a critique. This section helps the judge to
determine how to decide whether racism, sexism, etc. outweigh
war, increased crime, etc. It is this section that will win or
lose a large number of critique debates. You can argue with
analysis or evidence that avoiding racism, sexism, should be
apriori--that you should address this issue first; that such
behavior should be avoided at virtually cost; that such behavior
is the cause of some of the worst atrocities including genocide,
nuclear war, etc. You can argue with analysis or evidence that
avoiding racism, sexism, should be apriori--that you should
address this issue first; that such behavior should be avoided at
virtually cost; that such behavior is the cause of some of the
worst atrocities including genocide, nuclear war, etc.