LD Training Week 10 - Debating Values

Welcome to week 10 of The Great Debate's introduction to Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate. Today's lesson is entitled "Debating Values" This lecture explains how a value debate is different from policy or public forum debate.  The difference is that we focus on the value and value criterion.  A LD round does not end with one team saying how much more interesting or persuasive their contentions are.  Instead, LD debates end with each side telling the judge how much better their value is than their opponent's value.  If the goal of the LD round is to show that the resolution should be affirmed or negated, the value is the way you reach that goal.  And, as we've discussed before, the value criterion helps us know how close to the value we can come.

Understanding how to debate the value and value criterion will go a long way toward helping you successfully to navigate the debate round. If you can explain how your value is superior, how your opponent's value is not applicable to the resolution, how your criterion is the preferable way to measure whether a value has been reached, or how your opponent's value criterion is simply a restatement of their value and doesn't measure anything, you have gone a long way toward winning the debate round.

Before we start today's lesson, get a piece of paper and write down the value and value criterion you have been using for your pro and con cases.  Flow them as if they were presented in the 1AC and the NC.  Leave lots of space so you can put arguments under each value and value criterion.  On a second page, write down 3 reasons you think your affirmative value is superior to your negative value.  Do the same thing with your negative value superior to your affirmative value.  Put these pages to the side and watch the lesson.

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.

We now know how to debate values.  It's time to actually debate them.  Divide into groups of 2 students.  One person should be affirmative and the other should be negative.  Read only the value and value criterion sections of your respective cases (out loud) to one another and flow the arguments.  Take 5 minutes of "prep time" and think up as many reasons your value and value criterion are superior to your opponent's.  Now, use 3-point refutation and respond to your opponent's value and value criterion.  You should have at least 5 reasons.  Flow these next to each person's value/value criterion.  Take 5 more minutes of prep time and think up responses to your opponent's challenges.  Present these in 3-point refutation as well.  Be sure to keep flowing.  If you have time, continue this pattern without any additional prep time for another round for both speakers.

Before you leave class, make a full team list of all the values and value criterions in your club.  This is really useful for your homework.

By now you should have read all of Coach Marko Djuranovic's Ultimate LD Handbook. Keep the book handy as a reference if you need it throughout the rest of your debate career.  For a brief recitation of some common LD values, I suggest this short post by the Debate Central team at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Finally, as homework, write up 6 arguments that explain why your value and value criterion in your affirmative case are superior to the values and value criterion of your fellow club-mates.  I'd strongly encourage you to come up with responses to at least 3 different values and 3 different value criterions.  Also, do the same thing for your negative case.  Last, read a few articles (check out the Great Debate on twitter for links to articles on this year's LD topic!) and see if you find any other values playing a role in the writings of the experts in your field.

Have a great week and we'll see you next week for our eleventh debate lesson, "Preparing to Debate" where we'll discuss the final steps you need to take before your first full debate round.

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.