
Don't mean to be rude, but like
jawyatt says, this really isn't a
debate statement; it would be
better asked in the Q&A portion of
this site. Don't worry--you're not
the only one who might be a little
unclear about debate statements,
etc. Since about three dozen or
more people have been asking how to
post a debate here, maybe this is a
good time to share a few things
about the Blurtit debate forum. I
hope these are helpful all who have
been asking or wondering. So here
goes:
Generally-WHAT IS "DEBATE"?
Debate is about change and about
resolving an issue. Debate forums
are formed with the idea of
resolving an issue or problem. And
though some think fighting is what
is meant by 'argument', that's not
what the word means in debate. A
debate is not an undisciplined
shouting match between parties that
passionately believe in a
particular point of view or just an
opinion without reasoning. In fact
the opposite is true. Debating has
courteous rules and techniques
(called principles of debate) that
people use to attempt to persuade
others using reasoning and facts to
back up that reasoning.
Debate occurs all the time in real
life--at the United Nations,
faculty meetings, in the office, or
even at your dinner table. The
process is the same – exchange
that resolves an issue and/or
determines whether change is good
or bad (whether it should happen or
not) through reasoning. Politicians
debate whether abortion should be
legal and whether smoking should be
banned; the faculty debates school
policies; and you may recently have
debated with your parents after
dinner about the incrasing your
allowance, whether you should have
a job, go to college, when you can
begin to drive/have your own car,
or if you should be allowed to
date, etc.
How Do I Write a Debate
Statement (or TOPIC) For This
Debate Forum?
1)The topic changes from debate to
debate. A topic could be about
current issues of public importance
("All people who are physically
able should be organ donors") --or
about general philosophies or ideas
(like "beauty is better than
brains" or “Dogs make better
house pets than cats”).
2) A debate can be resolved by
through objective reasoning using
facts as tools. That’s why
it’s not a debate when someone
just asks for preferences like if
plum jam tastes better than
strawberry. I mean, you can say
what YOU like better, but there is
no common criteria for what tastes
the best to all people, so it's not
something that can be resolved
through debate reasoning.
3) Also, a debate statement is NOT
a question, it’s a statement that
people can agree or disagree with.
Those who agree with the topic
statement are called the
AFFIRMATIVE/FOR, and those who
disagree with the topic are called
the NEGATIVE/AGAINST (or the
opposition). When you write a good
debate statement, it will be clear
to others responding in which
column their answer belongs— they
will be able to say YES, I agree
with the debate statement, or NO, I
do not. (For example: A question
like “who is hotter, Joe or
Zac?” wouldn’t work. A
responder can’t respond yes or no
to that.)
What do I write Under the Debate
statement?
Deciding and explaining what your
statement means is called `defining
the topic'. In Blurtit, that means
you have to clarify what you mean
under that first statement... For
example, it might not be clear what
you mean by “dogs make better
house pets than cats”—so in the
statement underneath, you could
explain about what you mean by
“better”. Example:They’re
don’t cough up hairballs or shed,
or whatever pets do in the
house,etc….
I hope this helps some. It's
really not too complex, but it's
easy to confuse what is an opinion
poll and what is a debate
sometimes.
I really do think you will get
more answers, and the kind you are
seeking for this question in the
Q&A part of the site if you post
the question there. :)