We've already talked about argument structure. Now we dive headfirst into something known as counter-warrant strategy.
Read MoreLast time we unpacked what values are, and then how to create them. Now we talk about how to run them...
Read MoreCross-ex is a fast-paced, dynamic battle in which the witness has...
Read MoreA voting issue (or “voter”) is a reason for the...
Read MoreLogically, the first step to prove a resolution is to...
Read MoreMost economics classes begin by explaining the problem of...
Read MoreI just got back from my Phoenix camp. This is the second...
Read MoreResolutions have 3 basic moral charges. Each calls for a significant shift in the kinds of arguments you run...
Read MoreA good value meets three standards...
Read MoreThere's one word that sums up the stigma of high-school value debate...
Read MoreDeductive reasoning (Betsy is a cow, all cows eat grass, therefore Betsy eats grass) is widely regarded as the most scientific...
Read MoreAn admission is something your opponent says that you can use against his advocacy. And of all your options, an opponent's admission is the strongest...
Read MoreThis article covers Stoa's current LD resolution: Preemptive warfare is morally justified.
Affirmatives everywhere are winning with a really simple narrative: "we have...
Read MoreCross-examination is difficult, and there's very little formal theory on how to do it. Most competitors just stand up and start asking the witness questions, hoping that eventually, they'll build up enough momentum for the witness...
Read MoreIn the last post, I talked about Reference Points: a way to identify the starting point of any explanation.
The second step, logical chronology, tells you how to take your audience the rest of the way.
Logical Chronology
Logical Chronology is the act of presenting ideas...
Read MoreThere are two basic tools that make explanation possible. This post covers the first one:
Reference Points
Reference points are things that two people already know, like a shared language. This post is written in English, because I know that’s what you speak. If it were written in Swahili, it may still contain useful information, but it would probably be useless to you.
Beyond language...
Read MoreMany policy debaters treat evidence like rare silver, to where having more of it makes the case more valuable by default.
"I have 17 pieces of evidence in my 1AC!"
As a result, many policy cases are written with a primary emphasis on...
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