Arguments In Debate by English Debate Gurukul. “Arguments In Debate” is the topic of today’s video. We are currently publishing a series called “Introduction to English Debating”. “Arguments In Debate” is the 10th class of our new series “Introduction to English Debating”.
Arguments In Debate
There are multiple formats a debate can follow, this is a basic debate structure:
- A topic is chosen for each debate – this is called a resolution or motion. It can be a statement, policy, or idea. The motion is usually a policy that changes the current state of affairs or a statement that is either true or false. The motion typically starts with “This House…”
- There are two teams of three speakers:
- The Affirmative team supports the statement
- The Negative team opposes the statement
- Sometimes you will be asked to take a position in the debate but in other debates, you will be allocated your position.
- Teams are provided with time to prepare – usually one hour
- Each speaker presents for a set amount of time
- Speakers alternate between the teams, usually, a speaker in the Affirmative team starts, followed by a Negative speaker, then the second Affirmative speaker presents, followed by the second Negative speaker, etc.
- The debate is then judged.
- There may be an audience present but they are not involved in the debate
Once you have learned how to debate in one format you can easily switch to another.
Basic argument structure
There are various ways of dividing up cases according to groups of arguments, such as social/economic/political, etc. You could assign each speaker to handle a group.
Place the most important arguments first, for example, “The media has more influence on self-esteem than anybody else. This is true for three reasons. Firstly (most important argument)… Secondly…, Thirdly (least important argument)…”
To structure an argument follow these steps:
- Claim – present your argument in a clear statement. This claim is one reason why you’re in favor of/against the motion.
- Evidence – the evidence supporting your claim, such as statistics, references, quotes, analogies, etc.
- Impact – explain the significance of the evidence – how does this support your claim?
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