RAGING REBUTTALS
Adolescents often disregard many controversial issues, but the
Great Debate gave the students of team 8B the chance to research and
sympathize for actions and events that affect numerous people in a hands-
on way. It took an in depth look at a broad variety of topics from gun
control to stem cell research and put each individual student "in the driver’s
seat" so to speak. It was an assignment with such broad parameters and
rules, and was difficult to find portions that were not to my liking. The
debate assignment was difficult and challenging, but most of all was nerve
racking to me because of my lack of large public speaking and the thought
of making a mistake in front of the crowd which exceeded 100 people.
What I enjoyed about the debate was the equal workload of each
group member. All three of our group members had to research with note
cards, draft a speech and either ask and answer rebuttal questions or
recite a conclusion; which applied to all groups pro or con. Although I
believed that only using one portion of the cards and giving the rest to the
opposing group was prodigal, I enjoyed learning about both sides of the
topic to prepare for any of the arguments brought up by our opponents. I
would have never thought twice about the gun control situation and how it
affects American’s in their everyday lives, but now I do. I can take my
knowledge gained from this experience and apply it to life. Not only did
I gain information about the topic I had to research, but by there being
audience participation during the debates, I know about many controversial
issues, not just one. The audience and teachers filling out evaluations for
every debate was also an aspect that I enjoyed. I felt that putting much
emphasis on the debate encouraged me to work better and revise my
speeches more thoroughly. For example, the debate was being counted as
part of both a Reading and Language Arts grade, which enhanced my
conduct and work ethic due to me knowing that two class grades would
suffer if my performance was inadequate.
With the throngs of aspects of the debate that enjoyed, there were
some areas where I though there could be improvement. During the
opening speeches, many vital portions that illustrated important points
were not incorporated due to the short 1:15 time limitations. I found myself
and others reading too fast and unclearly to complete the entire speech as
written. I also was confused by the rebuttal answers being irrelevant and
not relative to the question itself. Although there were groups such as gun
control, they were separated in two groups, pro and con, but all members
of the group gave their pro side not cards to the pro and their con side
cards to the con side depending on which side they were on. Instead of
this, I thought it would be more efficient to decide which group would be
pro and con in the beginning to cut down on wasteful and unnecessary
work.
The Great Debate was an excellent way to display many personal
strengths and to achieve goals not only set by the teachers, but by myself.
Goals such as completing the opening speech in the allotted time of one
minute fifteen seconds, developing rebuttal questions that complete the
points not covered in the opening speeches, and to be completely
prepared when on stage. It is something that will be fresh in my minds for a
very extended period of time, not only because it is unlike any other project
I have participated in before, but because it is one of the largest
public speeches I have ever made!