OVERVIEW:
A typed, single-spaced, 1” margins, Times New Roman 12-point font document with your Final Brief is due by 8AM the day of your Debate Performance. You can find that date hereLinks to an external site.. This assignment should include a cover page with authors’ names and debate topic, debate brief with blocks, and your bibliography in APA format. The debate brief is your storehouse of information on your resolution. The notes you can use during the debate come from this brief, so the more work you put into it now, the better. This is a collaborative project, so the group and the teams should work together, be in touch regularly, and in some cases assist your teammate. Each team (AFF or NEG) will be turning in one brief.
NOTE: The Introduction Section (Parts I-III) should be the same across both pairs (i.e. the whole group will have the same information listed for those parts) and so the two teams should work together on this. However, the Case Arguments, Offensive and Defensive Blocks, Conclusion, and References will be different for each team and should not be compiled as a group. Each team’s case arguments will be shared with the other team ahead of time so that the rebuttals can correspond with the other team’s arguments. For instance, the Affirmative team will need to know the Negative team’s case arguments in order to prepare their rebuttals, but will also need to over-prepare several blocks to defend against possible attacks on their case arguments.
STEP-BY-STEP:
In its complete form, each team’s brief should include:
A cover page with authors’ names, debate topic, affirmative/negative team
The introduction section (history and main issues.)
The affirmative resolution analysis (Including definitions) OR the negative description of the status quo.
While you complete these two steps (resolution analysis and status quo) in your Resolution Analysis assignment as a group of 4, please know that the AFF side will only verbally present the history and definitions while the NEG side will only verbally present the current status.
Your case arguments (including the data upon which those claims rest). Include 3-4 case arguments.
Rebuttals for your opponent’s case. Include 2-3 rebuttals for each of your opponent’s case arguments.
Blocks to further defend your own case arguments. Include 3-5 blocks for each of your own case arguments.
Use at least 10 sources, all of which should be verbally cited in your brief. Cite these sources in a formal APA bibliography at the end of your brief.
Briefs will be graded on the following four criteria:
Thoroughness of content – arguments are presented in a thorough manner; critical information is not omitted; extensive research and preparation is obvious
Citation of source material – citations are provided when necessary and are done in proper APA format.
Clarity of writing, including thought – team shows that they have thought extensively about the arguments they will make and has clearly explained arguments throughout, explanations are clear and easy to understand;
Free from grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors – paper has been carefully proofread, follows the format prescribed above, and is professional in appearance.
