The Adventures of HuckleberryFinnSchool Board Debate

RESOLVED: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be banned from public school curriculum in the United States of America.

For this debate, you will be assigned to one of two sides of an issue or to the school board. The school board will be hearing arguments and will be deciding the outcome. The first side of the issue would be arguing in the Affirmative, agreeing that the resolution should in fact be followed. The second side of the issue would be arguing in the Negative, believing that the resolution should NOT be followed. The third group of people will act as the school board, who will ask questions after each set of speeches and then deliver a judgment with rationale based on the evidence presented in the speeches.

Please support with your arguments with research, examples, and as many persuasive rhetorical strategies as you believe to be effective.

1st Constructive Speeches: These are pre-written speeches made to present your argument to the board, complete with your side of the resolution, facts, and analysis of how the facts prove your side. These are similar to opening statements. These speakers will be the first to construct the argument.

2nd Constructive and Rebuttal Speeches: These are speeches created ahead of time, but revised and finalized during planning time. These speeches further develop and construct the group’s argument while addressing and refuting (rebutting, disproving) any counterarguments/counterclaims that may have been brought up by the opposite side or by the School Board. New information may be brought up during these speeches, as long as it supports or expands upon what was already presented in the 1st Constructive.

Q and A from School Board: These are questions from the School Board members addressed to either or both sides of the issue that clarify stances, facts, and analysis as well as address any incongruities made in arguments.

Closing Speeches: These speeches (which are continually revised during planning times) act as final arguments and may address anything already presented by either side. No new facts or information may be brought up.

School Board Delivery of Judgment: This speech explains the judgment the School Board has made on the resolution, citing evidence and analysis from the previous speeches and Q and A sessions.

3 minutes1st Affirmative Constructive Speech

3 minutes 1st Negative Constructive Speech

5 minutes 1st Q and A from School Board

5 minutesPlanning time with sides

3 minutes 2nd Affirmative Constructive and Rebuttal Speech

3 minutes 2nd Negative Constructive and Rebuttal Speech

5 minutes 2nd Q and A from School Board

5 minutesPlanning time with sides

2 minutes Closing Affirmative Speech

2 minutes Closing Negative Speech

5 minutesSchool Board Deliberation Time

3 minutesSchool Board Delivery of Judgment

CA Standards:

Reading Comprehension:

2.4 Make warranted and reasonable assertions about the author’s arguments by using elements of the text to defend and clarify interpretations.

Writing Strategies:

1.3 Structure ideas and arguments in a sustained, persuasive, and sophisticatedway and support them with precise and relevant examples.

1.4 Enhance meaning by employing rhetorical devices, including the extended use of parallelism, repetition, and analogy…

1.5 Use language in natural, fresh, and vivid ways to establish a specific tone.

1.6 Develop [texts] by using clear research questions and creative and critical research strategies (e.g., field studies, oral histories, interviews, experiments, electronic sources).

ESLRs:

Critical & Creative Thinkers- Receive and evaluate information

Effective Communicators- Articulate ideas and thoughts clearly

Write effectively across the curriculum

Respect- For self and others