Debate Essays

coolerboy

Does anyone know the structure and rules that apply to this kind of essay.

Does Anyone have a start and ending?

I need to learn this before tomorrow as I am cconcentrating on drama,fiction and poetry tomorrow.

emersyn

Throughout the essay you should use rhetorical questions that address and include the audience (raise your hand if you think..., how many people here honestly believe that...). Use inclusive pronouns (we can all do this if we work together, etc). It's also a good idea to throw in quotes from famous people, such as Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech or something from Oscar Wilde or something like that. You should also use personal anecdotes to engage the audience and make your views understandable and relatable.
When you are writing your arguments, you should back them up with statistics and real-life events to solidify your views and make them waterproof (don't worry about accuracy, just make them up on the spot, the examiner doesn't care if what you write is true or not). It's also good to think of views that the opponent would be arguing and to counter them in order to make your arguments seem as strong as possible.

emersyn

Sample opening: Ladies, gentlemen, everyone. I would like to thank each of you for attending my speech today, in which I shall be arguing for/against the idea that [insert motion]. As we all know, in today’s world this issue is a controversial and topical one. During the next several minutes I shall be expressing my reasons for agreeing/disagreeing with this motion, and I sincerely hope that I convince each of you to agree with me before I finish talking.

Sample conclusion: I would like to thank each of you for taking the time and courtesy to listen to my speech. I sincerely hope that I have convinced you of/that [statement relating to motion]. If I have not managed to waver your opinion today, hopefully my arguments will spur you to further examine exactly why you are [statement relating to motion] and help you to consider whether your views are truly valid. Thank you again for listening, and have a safe journey home.

Eims14

emersyn wrote: »

Sample conclusion: I would like to thank each of you for taking the time and courtesy to listen to my speech. I sincerely hope that I have convinced you of/that [statement relating to motion]. If I have not managed to waver your opinion today, hopefully my arguments will spur you to further examine exactly why you are [statement relating to motion] and help you to consider whether your views are truly valid. Thank you again for listening, and have a safe journey home.

Would it not make more sense to either say taking the time or else saying having the courtesy to listen to my speech.I dont know if it makes a.difference or not but i figure the only time you need to have.good grammar is English?
Sorry.if this comes across as being fastidious(tryimg to break out some fancy words before english the result is me souding like a huge douche but oh well :rolleyes: )

gavindowd

We were told to use different techniques ie. anaphora/praeterito/alliteration, they're pretty easy to use and work really well. Anyways, I've a feeling that the speech might be something to do with war/fighting (as its 100 years since WW1), so I'm gonna prepare something small for that. I think the motion 'bloodshed never achieved anything' came up in 1997/8 but I think that might be too hard to come up nowadays...

Eims14

gavindowd wrote: »

We were told to use different techniques ie. anaphora/praeterito/..

Could you explain those techniques?Ive never heard of em

gavindowd

Eims14 wrote: »

Could you explain those techniques?Ive never heard of em

Anaphora - repeating the same phrase at the start of a sentence eg. We live in a country where ... in a country where ... in a country where ...

Praeterito - Helping to get the audience on your side by mentioning things but saying you will not talk about them eg. I'm not here to talk about the size of our army, the height of our skyscrapers or the size of our economy (quote from Obama).

Capitatio benevolentiae - Be humble in order to gain sympathy eg. If it was a debate about bullying you could say 'I was bullied at one stage...'

All of these techniques can be seen and are explained in detail in a documentary called 'The Lost Art of Oratory' which is well worth watching. It's on YouTube.

Eims14

gavindowd wrote: »

Anaphora - repeating the same phrase at the start of a sentence eg. We live in a country where ... in a country where ... in a country where ...

Praeterito - Helping to get the audience on your side by mentioning things but saying you will not talk about them eg. I'm not here to talk about the size of our army, the height of our skyscrapers or the size of our economy (quote from Obama).

Capitatio benevolentiae - Be humble in order to gain sympathy eg. If it was a debate about bullying you could say 'I was bullied at one stage...'

All of these techniques can be seen and are ex

Ohh thanks.for explaining

ECM1234

gavindowd wrote: »

We were told to use different techniques ie. anaphora/praeterito/alliteration, they're pretty easy to use and work really well. Anyways, I've a feeling that the speech might be something to do with war/fighting (as its 100 years since WW1), so I'm gonna prepare something small for that. I think the motion 'bloodshed never achieved anything' came up in 1997/8 but I think that might be too hard to come up nowadays...

What about writing a speech for/against the motion "Qatar should be allowed to host the 2022 World Cup"? That is a rather topical issue right now.

gavindowd

ECM1234 wrote: »

What about writing a speech for/against the motion "Qatar should be allowed to host the 2022 World Cup"? That is a rather topical issue right now.

True, but I've a feeling that the SEC wouldn't want to put something too hard on the paper. Many of my class wouldn't have a clue what the controversy is surrounding the World Cup and Qatar. Also, I'd say the papers were written and finalised weeks ago, before this issue was in the news. But it really could be anything and as a previous poster mentioned, it's usually something to do with young people today. I'm hoping we get a straightforward one, cause if you don't do we'll in the personal writing section you've lost your A!

ECM1234

gavindowd wrote: »

True, but I've a feeling that the SEC wouldn't want to put something too hard on the paper. Many of my class wouldn't have a clue what the controversy is surrounding the World Cup and Qatar. Also, I'd say the papers were written and finalised weeks ago, before this issue was in the news. But it really could be anything and as a previous poster mentioned, it's usually something to do with young people today. I'm hoping we get a straightforward one, cause if you don't do we'll in the personal writing section you've lost your A!

Too true.....