LD Training Week 7 - Refutation

Welcome to week 7 of The Great Debate's introduction to Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate. Today's lesson is entitled "Refutation" This 2-video lecture gives you an understanding of how debate can be more than just repeating yourself, but can instead be an organized and interesting discussion.  This lecture is indispensable to any new value debater - it gives you the formula for responding to any argument whether in debate rounds or in your classroom.

Before you watch the video, consider any debate you have seen.  Don't limit yourself to a formal debate round.  What is the most frustrating thing that happens?  It's when a debate is disorganized and you don't know which arguments are supposed to be responding to the arguments of the other side.  Today, we'll learn the first step in making sure this kind of disorganization doesn't occur.  Later, we'll learn "Flowing" which is debate note taking.  That's the second piece of the organization puzzle.

As we've said before, an argument contains 3 vital pieces: A claim, a warrant, and an impact.  Each complete argument should be able to stand on its own and make a coherent point.  Refutation is the method of responding to an argument.  There are a few pieces of every refutation.  First, you must tell the audience which argument you're about to respond to.  This matters because formal debates give each team a few minutes of uninterrupted time to talk before any response - that means there will always be more than one argument on the table at any given time.  Second, you need to respond to the argument with an alternative argument.  What reasons do you have to reject the reasons presented by your opponent.  Finally, you must tell the audience why your argument is stronger or more useful to their analysis of the debate round.  All three steps put together are called "3-point refutation" and this method of replying to an argument will go a long way toward making your arguments winning arguments.

This week's lesson is available on the Great Debate's youtube page. It is also available on the Great Debate website in embedded format. Finally, you can see the videos right here:

If you haven't already, be sure to visit The Great Debate website to request your free packet of outlines. If you are a student, you can request the student packet and coaches can request a coach packet with additional resources including a syllabus and answer keys.

Now that you understand the techniques of refutation, let's put them into practice.  Divide into groups of 2 or 3 students.  Get out the arguments you have for the resolution.  The first students presents 2 arguments in favor of the resolution. The next student uses 3-point refutation (Do NOT forget the impact) to reply to the arguments.  Switch.  Continue until you have exhausted all the arguments you have on the affirmative side and then switch to the negative.  If you would like a bit more of a challenge, try to refute your classmate's refutation (Argument - Refutation of the argument - Refutation of the refutation of the argument).  When the whole class comes back together, everyone should try to present and refute one argument for the whole group.

After you watch the video, be sure you download Coach Marko Djuranovic's Ultimate LD Handbook. Read pages 28-34 before next week's lecture. Don't worry if it doesn't all make sense. You are just trying to understand the big picture right now.

Finally, as homework, take your list of the arguments from last week (the ones you think support the resolution and are strong against the resolution).  Write down 3-point refutation for each of these arguments.  Next, try to refute 1 refutation on each side.  Your homework should be a document with an argument (claim, warrant, impact) at the top of the page, your refutation below (identify the argument, respond with your argument, and impact the differences to your judge's vote), and finally your refutation to the refutation (3-point refutation of the 3-point refutation).

Have a great week and we'll see you next week for our eighth debate lesson, "Case Structure" where we'll get ready to write our debate case!

If you are interested in learning a form of debate other than Lincoln-Douglas value debate, The Great Debate is a wonderful textbook for policy debate written by the teacher in these videos. The Great Debate provides training in the basics of debate and includes information for debaters who have already learned the fundamentals and are looking for more intermediate level training. The Great Debate has a teacher's guide (coming soon) which includes lesson plans and additional material for coaches. For more information about The Great Debate, visit our website. We also have produced a video training series for Public Forum Debate. The public forum series is another free resource from The Great Debate.