Debate Terminology

Analysis

• The act of defending a policy or a kritik.

• A method of evaluating data and drawing conclusions.

• A process of creating a debate topic.

• An approach to summarizing arguments.

Topicality

• Burden of the Affirmative to stay within the parameters established by the resolution.

• The responsibility of the Negative to refute the Affirmative's claims.

• The requirement for all arguments to be relevant to the debate topic.

• The obligation of the judge to remain impartial during the debate.

Evidence

• Establishment of a fact with a quote from a printed source; usually found in government documents, newspapers, magazines, journals, books, and interviews.

• A personal opinion or belief that is not supported by facts.

• A type of data that is collected through surveys and questionnaires.

• A fictional story that is created for entertainment purposes.

Advantage

• A benefit achieved through adoption of the Affirmative plan or the negative’s counterplan.

• A disadvantage that arises from the implementation of a plan.

• A neutral outcome that does not favor either side of the argument.

• An irrelevant point that does not contribute to the debate.

Clash

• A direct confrontation of arguments in a round.

• A peaceful discussion between debaters.

• A summary of the debate topic.

• A type of debate format.

Non-topical

• When the affirmative team has an element of the plan that does not fit under the resolution, the negative team can use this as an argument.

• The affirmative team must always stick to the resolution without deviation.

• The negative team can only argue against the plan if it is completely irrelevant.

• Non-topical arguments are not allowed in any debate format.

Tag

• The tag is the brief statement that precedes the card that is a basic summary of the card.

• The tag is a detailed explanation of the card's content.

• The tag is an image that represents the card.

• The tag is a list of keywords related to the card.

Claim

• Statements about what is true or good or about what should be done or believed.

• A type of evidence used in arguments.

• A personal opinion that cannot be proven.

• A question posed to elicit information.

Brief

• A detailed analysis of all sides of a resolution.

• An outline of arguments and evidence supporting one side of a resolution.

• A summary of the main points of a discussion.

• A comprehensive report on a topic.

Affirmative

• A benefit achieved through adoption of the Affirmative’s plan or the negative’s counterplan.

• A strategy used to counter the negative's arguments.

• A type of debate format that focuses on rebuttals.

• A method for evaluating the effectiveness of a plan.