DEBATE CARDS

Debate Central Workshop

What is a Card?

Key paragraphs taken from published material that make an argument.

Word for word quotation. No adding No deleting No paraphrasing

A claim supported by a warrant. (A claim alone is not enough.)

Full and proper citation. “Tag” or “Slug”

What Is NOT a Legitimate Card? Not available to the general public (example:

private email)

“Straw-person” argument

Taken out of context

Missing, incomplete or incorrect citation

Fabricated cite or text

Origin of the Term “Card”

Originally debaters placed types of evidence/quotations onto index cards and carried huge boxes of index cards to tournaments. Each individual piece of evidence had its own index card. Eventually each separate piece of evidence became known as a “card” even though we use printer and copy paper instead of index cards.

High Quality Cards

Warrant supporting the claim

Qualified source

Date—Recently published

Specific to the issue

Direct and clear language

Basic Elements of Each Card Tag Shortened Cite Full Cite Full Text Warrant Underlining or Highlighting

Fabrication

General definition: Untruthful manufacturing or alteration of text or cite Manufacturing—writing your own cards Alteration—adding, deleting, or editing any

part of a real card to craft a different one Applies to the text AND the citation of the

card

Fabrication

Destroys a cornerstone of the activity Analogous to taking steroids in sports or

cheating during an exam in school Ethically wrong Severe penalties Don’t risk it. Check with a coach if you

have any doubts

Underlining and Highlighting

Be very careful—it is very difficult to do correctly.

It is better to read too much than too little.

Retain the WARRANT. Retain proper grammar. Avoid altering the intent of the author. Notice when your opponents have made

their cards too short.