Debating for boys

by William Horton Foster

In getting ready, one of the most important steps is for you and your opponents to get together and talk over the question and agree beforehand on just what it covers and what it does not cover. You wish to avoid all confusion on these points, or at least you should wish to. Some men—and boys—think it smart to leave the question uncertain and indefinite so that—as they mistakenly suppose—they may increase their own chances of success. They feel that if they can only have a wide enough range in the discussion some of their arguments will probably hit the point and win their case for them. Too many times, however, the point at which they are aiming is the decision of the judges and not the logical and irresistible culmination of the argument.

The difference is like that between shooting with a shot gun and a rifle. In the first case if only your shot scatter enough you may bring down your game. In the second case, if your aim is true, you are sure to score a hit. The first case calls for a sense of general direction and not much more; the second calls for precision, accuracy, and its result should be inevitable.

An Understanding With Your Opponents.—By thus coming to an understanding with your opponents you will avoid confusion; you will reduce the proposition to its simplest terms, and you can narrow your own argument to a few clearly defined channels. You will, however, do much more than that: you will make the contest worth while by a manly agreement which will avoid any attempt to obscure the real question. You might be able so to becloud your opponents that you could possibly fool them as to your real essential points and so prevent an adequate reply. If you should succeed in so doing, although you might be able to “put it over” on your opponents and the judges of the debate, you would not be fair. Experienced judges, however, would probably detect your purpose and penalize you for it.

Not only is this determination of the essence of a question absolutely necessary in preparing for a debate; it prepares you for even more vital work in later life. Remember what we have said all along, that the real value of effective debating is its education for the unconscious exercise in later life of the mental habits thus acquired. So when in later life if you and those with whom you differ get together and talk over the terms of a question before you allow yourselves to debate the substance of that question, you will frequently find there is no question left for discussion. As you define this and that term, you will come nearer and nearer together. More times than not, you will find that you have so much in common, that you have nothing between you for disagreement. The question will always be simplified; many times it will disappear altogether.

If, however, someone should urge that you may be losing some of the educative value of debate by thus avoiding such subtleties and trickeries as I have just been condemning, let me remind you again, that the real value of agreement, whether in the debating club or in later and more real life, is not in just winning but in determining just what should be done. Your purpose to arrive at a correct course of action will be strengthened, not weakened, by clearing away the unnecessary and non-essential points at the beginning.

Remember, moreover, that to harmonize differences is as good mental training as to accentuate them; to eliminate them, as to crystallize them. To think constructively is a vastly more valuable mental habit than to think negatively. When you and your opponents think alike, whether in debate or real life, when you agree upon a certain part of the question between you, you have cleared the way for at least that much of constructive thought. Finally, such agreement is necessary to coöperation, and coöperation is absolutely essential to any action whether it is a trip to Mount Washington, a campaign against Philip of Macedon, or the carrying out of a certain policy toward the Philippines. We must work together or not at all. Some may pull at the load, some may push, but the load must go in one direction. To get the load anywhere you must have a common purpose; this simplification of the question will help you to find it. In debate, after the question has been defined and limited, you must present your arguments so clearly and conclusively that your opponent as well as your judges will agree that your course is wise and will be ready to follow the line of action that your conclusion calls for. Otherwise your opponents, if they be equally honest and efficient, in mind and method, have the right to demand the same surrender from you.

So, as the first step in your debate, get together, bar out the matter decided upon as outside of your debate, and settle the issues clearly. By the way, that step is the first in a law suit; when the issues are clearly defined, the actual trial takes very little time. A law suit is just one form of debate, and your debate must have its issues settled as clearly. In the Philippine question referred to on page 22 you would select some one of the four possible subjects and you would state it something like this, “Resolved: that the United States should grant the Philippines immediate independence;” now your issue is stated.

Don’t Try to Do It All Alone.—Before you begin your own personal work of preparation, you and your colleagues must meet and apportion the work among yourselves. Do not think you must cover all the ground yourself, unless of course, you are alone in the debate. No matter how many associates you have, however, you must have a broad general view of the whole subject but each one on your side must select some particular part of the subject which he alone will present.

Origin of the Question.—After these preliminaries are thus arranged and you start your own work, first analyze your question and find its starting point, which in any argument lies in the real or alleged existence of a human need. Certain evils are said to exist. The first step is to prove or disprove the existence of these evils. If they are shown to be facts, the next question and the first step in the argument is to show that a certain remedy will remove the evils.