The Art of Debate

What is a debate?

ACTIVE LISTENING

• debate is not just about reading off of notecards
• you must also listen to your opponent

a - assertion (claim, idea)

• c - citations (evidence)
• t - take notes 
• i - ignore distractions
• v - visualize
• e - eye contact

Opposition

Proposition

Opening Statement

Closing Statement

assertion

reasoning

evidence

fallacy

Watch the clips from The Great Debaters

• look for..
• voice of speaker
• delivery of argument
• emotion
• audience engagement

Tips for taking good notes

shorten words to 1-2 syllables

• presentation to pres.
• represent to rep.
• legitimate to legit.

Use chat speak or text language

• You are right to have protested
• ur rght 2 hv prtstd

Use symbols to rep. common words/phrases.  C exs. /

• @ - at, about, around
• no or # - number
• + - more, bigger
• ? - who, what, when, where, why
• bc - because

Use lines and arrows

• show cause and effect
• steps
• processes

Use common abbreviations that already exist

• States - RI
• Chem. symbols - H2O
• Dates - Feb, or 2

Fun with Lists

Building Arguments

In order to create a strong argument, you must use:

• A -R - E
• A - assertion
• R - reasoning
• E - evidence

Assertion

• Assertion is a claim about the world or a strong, clear statement
• Example - "homework should be banned" or  "poverty is harmful to society"

REASONING

• The because part of the argument
• "Homework should be banned because it is time-consuming."
• "Poverty is harmful to society because children are starved and hungry."

Reasoning

• It is important to learn the difference between good and bad reasoning
• faulty reasoning - fallacy
• using a fallacy makes an argument invalid

E - Evidence

• Gives proof to assertion and reasoning
• should be from a reliable source
• credit should be given to source

Homework should be banned from school because it is too time-consuming. For example, according to the National Council on Teens, teenagers need at least 9 hours of sleep per night. Too much homework can take away from that necessary sleep.

Fallacy

Appeal to tradition
1. When an argument is justified because of tradition.
2. Just because something has always been one way, doesn't make it right.

"School uniforms are good for our school because we have always had uniforms."

Ancient Grains cereal is good for your health because the grains in the cereal have been used for centuries!

Appeal to Authority
1. When someone well-known backs a product without the facts or evidence.

Justin Beiber uses ProActiv for his acne. You should too.

Ariana Grande says that she uses Lustre Creme Shampoo.

Fallacy of False Cause
1. Using the argument that if one thing happened, then another thing happened, then the first thing must have caused the second thing to happen.

So if A happened, then B happened, therefore A caused B.

EX: “The sun rises every time I get out of bed. Therefore, by getting out of bed, I make the sun rise.” It is not reasonable to assume that one event caused the other to happen.

iPods and Violent Crime"The report suggests that 'the rise in violent offenses and the explosion in the sales of iPods and other portable media devices is more than coincidental,' and asks, 'Is There an iCrime Wave?'"The report notes that nationally, violent crime fell every year from 1993 to 2004, before rising in 2005 and 2006, just as, 'America’s streets filled with millions of people visibly wearing, and being distracted by, expensive electronic gear.‘”

Fallacy of Composition: When someone uses the logic that what is true of the part is true of the whole.

For example one member of a debate team is smart, so every member of the debate team is smart. This may be true, but you cannot be completely sure.

Fallacy of Composition
If you stand up at a concert, you have a better view. Therefore, everyone should stand up.
Texas has more millionaires than any other state. Therefore, Texas must be the richest state.
The monthly payments on this car are low. Therefore is a low cost car.

Fallacy of Division: Opposite of fallacy of composition. Just because something is true of the whole, doesn’t mean that it is true of its parts.

Texas is the richest state so everyone is Texas is rich.

Fallacy of Division



This car is not expensive. Therefore, the monthly payments are very low.

All of the actors in this movie are great. Therefore, it must be a great movie.

Slippery Slope

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• If you buy a basketball, you will join a team, play in college and go pro
• If they increase taxes on the rich, they will increase taxes on the poor
• If I let you go this time, I will have to let you go every time.

False Dilemma

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• Either you are with me or you are against me
• Either you are going to admit that you were wrong or not admit it.
• What if I was right?
• Either you copied your homework or did not do it at all.

Ad Hominem

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• Any political ad you can think of
• Kevin says Jordan was the best basketball player ever but Kevin is always
• picked last when we play hoops, so what does he know?

Appeal to Fear

Example #1:

If we don’t bail out the big automakers, the US economy will collapse. Therefore, we need to bail out the automakers.
Explanation: There might be plenty of legitimate reasons to bail out the automakers -- reasons based on evidence and probability—but a “collapsed economy” is not one of them.

Example #2:
Timmy: Mom, what if I don’t believe in God?
Mom: Then you burn in Hell forever. Why do you ask?
Timmy: No reason.
Explanation: Timmy’s faith is waning, but Mom, like most moms, is very good at scaring the Hell, in this case, into, Timmy. This is a fallacy because Mom provided no evidence that disbelief in God will lead to an eternity of suffering in Hell, but because the possibility is terrifying to Timmy, he “accepts” the proposition (to believe in God), despite the lack of actual evidence.

FALLACY ACTIVITY
You will be broken up in to groups of 2 or 3. In each group, you will be given a product. Your job is to create a commercial for the product using the logical fallacy you are assigned.

Your group must complete a commercial organizer

Sketch and caption the six scenes of your commercial

Present to class

All members must participate in the commercial

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