by Toby Rivas | Dec 21, 2018 | From Advanced to National-Class, From Intermediate to Advanced, Strategy, Technique
Last time, we introduced spikes and preemption, and saw what they look like in the 1AC. Today, we move to the 2AC, and next time we’ll talk about Neg. 2AC spikes exist to mitigate the Neg block by making the 1AR easier. This article does a wonderful job of outlining...
by Toby Rivas | Dec 4, 2018 | Communication/Rhetoric, From Intermediate to Advanced, From Novice to Intermediate, Strategy
If you’ve ever played volleyball, you know the terror of a spike. A player slams the ball over the net so hard you have no hope of returning it. In debate, a spike is a little different, but still a powerful offensive tactic. Referring broadly to preemption, a spike...
by Toby Rivas | Oct 30, 2018 | Disadvantages, Negative, Strategy, Team Policy
There’s a common misconception that, in TP, moral arguments and pragmatic arguments don’t mix. That’s false. This article is about the Bad Precedent DA—one of the main ways you can couple your principle-based arguments with a pragmatic dimension. We’ll discuss it in...
by Thaddeus Tague | Oct 23, 2018 | From Intermediate to Advanced, From Novice to Intermediate, Lincoln-Douglas, Negative, NSDA, Research Tips, Strategy
Resolved: In a democracy, the public’s right to know ought to be valued above the right to privacy of candidates for public office. This topic prep is meant to stimulate ideas (and give resources) rather than hand feed you contentions to run. Check the additional...
by Harrison Durland | Oct 18, 2018 | Ethics Bowl, Strategy, Technique
In my previous article, I described our usual presentation structure, while also partially discussing Case 1. In this article, I will be focusing on case preparation and research, as well as some communication and teamwork practices. How we prepare The right research...
by Toby Rivas | Oct 6, 2018 | Inherency, Negative, Strategy, Technique
This is the first post from one of our new team members, sixth-year debater Toby Rivas. Keep an eye out for more practical strategy tips from him coming soon! Debaters have lots of silly quirks–“debaterisms,” if you will. Things like always quoting Ronald...
