Basic Strategies Dallas Urban Debate League December, 2007

ResearchWritingAnswering

What to look for when researching Depth of the literature Quality of the writing Affirmative bias Specific solvency advocate(s) Sustainability Strong Literature Base

What to look for when researching Flexibility Policy vs. Critique Multiple scenarios Powerful Interesting to you Interesting Harms Area

What to look for when researching Start in the library – books are vital One source at a time Follow authors, footnotes, think tanks, etc Take notes, keep track of search terms Source Mining

What to look for when researching Cut the negative against your case (DA’s & CP’s, K’s) Use NEG authors as search terms Assume you aren’t the only person that thought of your AFF – be prepared “You gotta be negative sometimes”

What to look for when researching Is the AFF offensive vs. key negative arguments? Can the AFF control the uniqueness? Is your agent necessary and sufficient to solve? Think strategically

ResearchWritingAnswering

Form and Strategy Sort evidence by area of the AFF (advantages, solvency, inherency/uniqueness) What will you include? What is ready for the 1AC? Create an outline for the 1AC – think about possible alternative versions Resist the urge to write the plan…yet Organize

Form and Strategy Preempt common answers in the 1AC Impact your arguments Control the uniqueness Anticipate counter plans Average length of 4-6 cards Advantages

Form and Strategy More specific the better – don’t settle Read evidence for specific advantages and internal links Anticipate common answers and counter plans Use evidence as the template for the plan Solvency

Form and Strategy Simple is better – one sentence is ideal PICs Links Start with evidence – what do your advocates recommend? Be specific about actors & mechanisms Be prepared to defend everything in the plan Be prepared to defend that the plan is topical Writing the Plan

Form and Strategy Observation 1 – Inherency/Description of the Status Quo Observation 2 – Advantages Observation 3 - Solvency Basic 1AC Outline

ResearchWritingAnswering

Answering Negative Arguments Predict negative arguments (you did the research, right?) and write answers BEFORE the debate. Research issue specific elements of NEG arguments Think strategically – what will the 1AR say? What about the 2AR? Preparation and Anticipation

Answering Negative Arguments Block to the socks! Write answers to everything Mix offense and defense Use the 1AC (don’t you like your partner?) Bury winners Don’t stop at the 2AC – prepare for the rebuttals Frontlines and Backlines