D-BATE SAMPLE HINTS

According to     (SOURCE)  (QUOTE or STATISTIC or COMPELLING WISDOM for intro)

Because I agree with this (idea, sentiment, expressive wisdom, etc.), I seek (support, negation of todays resolution:

(RESOLVED: that – state resolution completely)  

For the purposes of today’s debate, I offer the following definitions from (Source:  book, author, author qualifications, year published, page number etc.)

(Word1 to define – definition)

(Word2 to define – definition)

(Word3 to define – definition)

(Word4 to define – definition)

The VALUE I wish to uphold in today’s debate is  (State your VALUE.)

According to  (Name of philosopher or source) this value is important because  (Offer a quote/description/explanation to support the importance of the value.  Offer valid reasoning to support why you have chosen THIS PARTICULAR VALUE to support/negate the resolution.)

In order to know whether or not we have achieved the value, it is necessary to establish a standard by which to judge the resolution.  These standards are called criteria and my criterion for today’s debate is (State Criterion).

(Criterion) means (explain what it means)

In order to justify the (Affirmative/Negative - choose ONE!), it is necessary to establish three (AFF)/ two (NEG) basic contentions:

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My first contention is  (Label)

What this means is (explain)

 Logically, when we... (explain the logic & theory behind the argument)

According to (Source) (Give piece of evidence supporting this contention & reconfirms logic)

(Explanation of evidence – in your own words)

(*optional - Clarify with an illustration, NOT justify!)

Because (Sum up argument)

(Tie contention into the value premise and resolution)

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My second contention is  (Label)

What this means is (explain)

 Logically, when we... (explain the logic & theory behind the argument)

According to (Source) (Give piece of evidence supporting this contention & reconfirms logic)

(Explanation of evidence – in your own words)

(*optional - Clarify with an illustration, NOT justify!)

Because (Sum up argument)

(Tie contention into the value premise and resolution)

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My third contention is  (Label)

What this means is (explain)

 Logically, when we... (explain the logic & theory behind the argument)

According to (Source) (Give piece of evidence supporting this contention & reconfirms logic)

(Explanation of evidence – in your own words)

(*optional - Clarify with an illustration, NOT justify!)

Because (Sum up argument)

(Tie contention into the value premise and resolution)

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So, because (restate labels of contentions), I ask you to (affirm/negate) today’s resolution and concur that (final statement asking for the vote).