ENG 48: ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATE

MEMORY AID FOR FINALS

2 types of Debate:

Argumentation: The Proposition

Developing a proposition
The
proposition
must
involve
a
debatable topic
The proposition should entail only one
statement for the affirmative to prove
The proposition should have enough
arguments on both sides so that the
debate is fair
The topic should hold interest of the
debaters over the course of the debate
period
Propositions fall into 3 categories:
Proposition of fact: is a statement
that can be proved using some kind of a
measurement (e.g. increasing taxes on
cigarettes will reduce smoking)
Proposition of value: requires the
affirmative to persuade the judges and
audience to accept an opinion or value
(e.g. active euthanasia is immoral)
Proposition
of
policy:
recommends
taking a certain kind of action (e.g.
there should be a ban on advertising of
all tobacco products)
Qualities of propositions:
It must be debatable or controversial
It must be in the form of assertion
It involves only one central idea
It must be susceptible to only
interpretation
It places the burden of proof in
affirmative
It must not be very broad
It
must
avoid
abstractions
generalizations
It should be unprejudiced, simple,
clear
It should be interesting

Debates in real life (e.g. Congress)

Inter-Collegiate debate (e.g. exposure

in the university)

Note: The affirmative side is the first to

conduct a speech because they are the one who
calls for a change while the negative side is
the last to conduct a speech because they are
the one opposing the change.
6

one
the

and
and

popular debate formats:

Policy Debate (Cross-examination)
The oldest, and still probably the most
popular, format of debate
The proposition side is called the
Affirmative and the opposition side is
called the Negative
Each side is a team composed of two
debaters
Consists of eight speeches: the first
four speeches are called constructive
speeches,
because
the
teams
are
perceived as laying out their most
important
arguments
during
these
speeches; the last four speeches are
called rebuttals, because the teams are
expected to extend and apply arguments
that have already been made, rather
than make new arguments
The affirmative team both begins and
ends the debate
The negative team has two speeches in a
row
There is a 3-minute cross-examination
period after each of the first four
speeches
The person who does the cross-examining
is the person who will not be giving
the next speech for his side
Known as CEDA or Cross Examination
Debate
Association,
team
research
debate, Oregonian or Oregon-Oxford
debate
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
A one-on-one debate
Five speeches and two cross-examination
periods

The Affirmative has more speeches than

the Negative, but both have the same
total speaking time
Resolutions in L-D debate are usually
stated as propositions of value
Parliamentary
Debate
(National
Parliamentary Debate Association)
There is a new resolution for every
round of debate
The proposition team is called the
"Government," and the opposition team
is called the "Opposition."
The Government team consists of two
debaters, the Prime Minister (PM) and
the Member of Government (MG); the
Opposition team also consists of two
debaters, the Leader of the Opposition
(LO) and the Member of the Opposition
(MO)
A round of
parliamentary debate
consists
of
six
speeches:
four
constructive speeches and two rebuttal
speeches
The proposition (Government) team -specifically, the Prime Minister -both begins and ends the debate
The Opposition team has a block of two
speeches in a row (the MO followed by
the LOR).
There are no cross-examination periods
in parliamentary debate
Proposition is called a motion
Debaters
may
take
a
point
of
information
No point of order
Parliamentary Debate (World Style or
European/British Parliament)
The two sides are called the Government
and Opposition
Take place between four teams their
roles are split into two categories,
those for the Opening factions, and
those for the Closing factions.
All
speakers
offer
Points
of
Information (POIs) to their opposition
The first and last minute of each
speech is considered "protected time",
during which no points of information
may be offered

Public Forum
Known as the Tad Turner debate or CNN
Crossfire
The debaters argue a topic of national
importance
Conducted by teams of two people
alternating speeches for their side
Crossfire: the two debaters directly
ask each other questions and answer
questions of their opponent; may be
used to ask revealing questions in an
attempt to expose a weakness in the
opponents' arguments, but it is often
used as a way to further develop and
attack arguments through discourse.
Grand Crossfire is similar to crossfire
except that all four debaters can ask
and answer questions of each other
Final Focus: a two-minute speech that
is also referred to as "The Last Shot";
the speaker is given one last chance to
explain exactly why his or her team has
won the round; no new arguments are
allowed in the Final Focus but new
evidence to support previous arguments
is allowed; this speech is often the
determining factor for a judge's
decision in a closely contested round
as it allows the judge to hear which
arguments/evidence each team views as
the most important to his or her case,
and summarizes the entire debate
Karl Popper Debate
Two teams consisting the total of three
speakers each

Note: Fairness is the ultimate goal in a

debate.