Contentions

While ARESI/R should have given you a strong explanation of how you should structure your points in a debate, you can’t just rely on theory and frameworks to help you develop your contentions better, you need to practice!

Example of a Strong Contention for School Uniforms

“My first contention supporting the resolution at hand is that of Equality in Perception. (Argument– done in a catchy way which is then elaborated upon) As anyone knows, teenagers are incredibly impressionable– they rely heavily on their peers to decide what is cool, what is not, who should be deified, who should be a pariah, what should be bought, and what shouldn’t. It is this last one that interests side government, because we believe that this policy of mandatory school uniforms will cancel out the immense pressure teens feel to belong. When certain kids with more money are able to purchase the hottest new limited-edition t-shirts and those who are of a lower socioeconomic status cannot, it creates tension and fragmentation. Those who are richer bond together because of their common ground, and those who are not come together over their mutual hatred and dislike of those who can. Through the introduction of school uniforms, side government believes we are leveling this socioeconomic disparity. Students will not be able to show off their brand new thousand-dollar Canada Goose jackets while others remain with their hand-me-downs, everyone will see each other on a closer level. (Reasoning and Evidence– done logically, with no needless statistics on the amount of purchasing of expensive jackets– a simple and believable enough claim that the opposition probably won’t challenge it) Side government believes this is a strong contention for our side of the house, as it brings about many societal benefits in the frame of the school– we are increasing cohesion among the student body, and we are ensuring that rampant and needless consumerism does not grip our youth.” (Significance– stating how it’s a strong argument, and Impact– what benefits it brings to the people)

Drill

Scrambled contentions: write a bunch of silly claims, warrants, and impacts, mix them up, and put them together in combinations that make sense. This should help you get a sense of what goes where when creating an argument, and also should help you realize how each ties into the next– you can’t have an impact without reasoning that fits!

Video

Debate Skill: Argument Building: