Argument and Research Kit
This page contains links to the four components of the 2008/09 NAUDL Argument and Research Kit (both in Word and pdf formats):
Argument Summaries [ pdf ]
Article Anthology [ Word ]
Research Guide [ pdf ]
Taken together, these components are designed to do four things: (i) get UDL debaters debating on this year's high school debate topic (Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States), (ii) model effective argument structure and use of evidence, (iii) introduce the broader literature on the topic, and (iv) improve and exercise the research skills of urban debaters.
The Core Files and Argument Summaries help UDL teams begin the year debating, right from the start. They are written with several pedagogical purposes. First, to be a model of debate brief construction; second, to be instructional materials that promote clash-intensive and sophisticated debating as early as possible; and third, to be sophisticated, well-researched files usable all year as part of more-experienced debaters' larger files. They are designed with "clash" foremost in mind. The Affirmative and Negative arguments directly answer each other, leading to the recognition of the need to respond to one's opponent's arguments. They further prompt the analysis of evidence text - both one's own and one's opponent's - in order to resolve the crucial points of clash.
The Article Anthology collects several of the full, major articles on each of the four Affirmative Cases that are in the Core Files. Much of the evidence in the Core Files on the Affirmative comes from these primary articles. Experienced debaters well know that understanding a Case through doing original reading and (eventually) research enables superior explanation, analysis, and extension of arguments in a debate round. The Article Anthology makes this reading convenient and readily feasible for all urban debaters.
The Research Guide has sound instruction in research practices for the beginning and intermediate debater. It also has specific suggestions on where and how to research policy areas just beyond the scope of the Core Files, helping debaters take the next step, on their own, from the NAUDL debate materials to the wide world of policy research and their own argument creation.
