DEBATING

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Structuring an Argument

A. Match the key terms below to their correct definitions.

a. literacy b. thesis c. claim d. stance e. credible f. rebut g. fallacy h. resolution

1. main idea, opinion, or theory .......

thesis 5. to argue a claim is not true .......
rebut

2. a statement which people debate .......

resolution 6. able to be believed or trusted .......
credible

3. the side of the issue you support stance

....... 7. believed to be true but actually false .......
fallacy

4. to state what you believe is true claim

....... 8. basic skill or knowledge of a subject .......
literacy

How to structure a debate argument: Express your point logically

Communicating your arguments in a manner which is logical and coherent is key to debating
success. A strong argument can be let down if it isn't easily understood, so it pays to carefully
consider how you structure your argument.

Outlining Your Arguments

At the start of a debate, you are required to outline your arguments. This is similar to how you
would express a thesis statement when writing an essay. The outline below, has three basic
parts.

1. Stance: Today's resolution is "Financial literacy should be taught in schools." We support the
resolution because many people in our society are not adequately organizing finances for their
education, healthcare and retirement.

2. Introduce the arguments: We will give two arguments to support our thesis.

3. Summarise the arguments: The first argument is it can empower and equip young people
with the knowledge, skills and confidence to take charge of their lives and build a more secure
future for themselves and their families. Our second argument is that teaching financial literacy
in schools can help improve economic equality.

A. In pairs, choose one of the resolutions below and create a brief introduction to
your argument. Do an online search to find strong ideas to support your argument.

1. Single sex schools are better than co-ed schools.

2. Advertising to young children should be regulated.
3. University education should be made freely available to all.

Today's resolution is .....................................................................................................

University education should be made freely available to all.

We support the resolution because .................................................................................

To advance humanity, we support free university education for the sake of our society's growth and evolution. Free university education should
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give acess to capable people to advance their knowledge and overall improve our society, including homeless rates and scientific discovery.

We will give two arguments to support our thesis .............................................................

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Argument 1: Gives capable people access to university, the more people the more our society advances.

Argument 2: Our society would be far more educated, resulting in far better lifestyle, higher rate of scientific discovery, and happier citizens.
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 DEBATING

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Structuring an Argument

Explaining Your Argument

After stating your stance on the resolution and outlining your arguments, you will need to
present your first argument. This will require explaining in detail what your claim is and giving
reasons for why you take this view. To make your argument convincing and more difficult to
rebut, your reasons should include a combination of logic, real world examples, statistics,
and quotes from experts or respected publications or institutions. Thus, to provide a strong
explanation of your argument, it is essential to do some research prior to the debate, making
sure your information comes from credible sources, such as academic journals, textbooks, and
notable scholars.

At this stage, it is important that you avoid making a logical fallacy, which is basically faulty
reasoning that weakens your argument. Conversely, being familiar with common logical fallacies
helps you identify weaknesses in your opponents' arguments, which helps you develop effective
rebuttals.

Explaining an Argument Example

Once you have clearly put forward your argument, it needs to be fully developed into an
explanation that provides adequate support by detailing your reasons. This makes your
argument more concrete and persuasive. Make sure your supporting information is relevant to
the argument and avoids logical fallacies and is based on some research.

Recap your argument: OK. So, let's examine our first argument for teaching financial
literacy. Financial literacy provides young people with knowledge and a skill-set that will
help them build a life that is more financially secure.

Overview or background: Before we begin, let's define the meaning of financial literacy.
A person with financial literacy is someone with the ability to budget effectively, save a
portion of their monthly income, understand how credit, debt, and insurance work, and
make sound financial decisions.

First reason: To understand the need for financial literacy it helps to look at the US. In
America, three quarters of the population live paycheck to paycheck, nearly 45 million
people have a combined student debt of around $1.5 trillion, total credit card debt is over
$1 trillion, and almost half of Americans would struggle to come up with $400 in savings
in an emergency.

Second reason: Finally, studies at Capital City University show the positive impact that
financial literacy has on a person's financial health. Financially savvy people are more
likely to accumulate wealth and are more likely to plan for retirement. Financial literacy
is also strongly correlated with a greater ability to cope with emergency expenses and
weather income shocks. Those who are more financially literate are less likely to have
credit card debt and more likely to pay off the full balance of their credit card.

Notes: This example begins by reminding the audience of the first argument. It then provides
some background or context. In this case, the background is giving a definition of the main
term in the resolution. However, you could also give some historical, geographical, or social
context on the issue or even just a brief summary of expert opinion on the topic. The first
reason relies heavily on statistics to support the argument while the second reason makes
reference to expert information from a reputable university.

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 DEBATING

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Structuring an Argument

B. With your partner, use the example on the previous page and the form below to
explain your argument in more detail.

Recap your argument: ..................................................................................................

First lets example our first reasoning for making university free for all. There are many capable students out there, people with high intelligence, who
..................................................................................................................................
are not given access to higher education due to financial difficulties. Giving these people access would give them the education they deserve.

..................................................................................................................................

Overview or background: ..............................................................................................

First of all, what would free university access for everyone look like? Well for one, universities would no longer get money from their students
..................................................................................................................................
and would instead be free to access and learn in, assuming you meet the requirements. To cover the costs, we could utilize taxes properly,
instead of wasting them on meaningless projects. Aside from obviously helping poor families, this would also help middle-class families, giving
them more leeway with their resources, and allowing that money to go back into the economy.
..................................................................................................................................

First reason: ................................................................................................................

To understand why we need to give capable people free university access, we could look at third world and overall poor
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countries and their populace. There are many capable and intelligent people out there unable to expand their
knowledge and fulfill their dreams due to financial issues. Giving them that chance, that potential for progress would
allow them to do that which they couldn't before. It would create far more professionals, each with their own ideas,
..................................................................................................................................
theories and imaginations. We would essentially be expanding the acess of our knowledge to far more people, giving us
acess to far more educated opinions and helping us theorise and solve complex problems.
..................................................................................................................................

Second reason: ............................................................................................................

With the alleviation that previous problem, we would thus set ourselves on a path to a better, happier and far more
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advanced society as more and more higher end jobs are taken up by capable scientists, mathematicians and other
professionals allowing our scientific progress to exhibit exponential growth, akin if not higher than that seen by the
space agencies during the cold war. Overall, our society would grow far quicker, and we would achieve far higher
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progress and general prowess over our knowledge. Potentially speeding up progress by several millenia.

..................................................................................................................................

C. Use the checklist below to review your argument and make any necessary revisions.

1. The argument has adequate support and detailed reasons. Yes / No

2. All the supporting information is relevant to the argument. Yes / No

3. The argument avoids logical fallacies. Yes / No

4. The argument includes reasons that are supported by research. Yes / No

5. T
 he argument includes a combination of logic, real world examples, statistics, and quotes
from experts or respected publications or institutions. Yes / No

6. Overall, the argument is clear and persuasive. Yes / No

D. Now, present your argument to other pairs in turn. Each time you present your
argument, one student presents the outline of the argument and the other presents
the explanation, alternating roles each time.

After both arguments have been presented, decide which pair presented the most convincing
argument and why.

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