DEBATE CARDS
Debate Central Workshop
What is a Card?
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Keyy paragraphs
p g p taken from published
p
material that
make an argument.
Word for word quotation.
No adding
† No deleting
† No paraphrasing
†
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A claim supported by a warrant. (A claim alone is not
enough.)
Full and proper citation.
“Tag” or “Slug”
What Is NOT a Legitimate
g
Care?
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Not available to the g
general public
p
(example:
(
p
private email)
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“Straw-person” argument
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T k outt off context
Taken
t t
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Missing incomplete or incorrect citation
Missing,
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Fabricated cite or text
Origin
g of the Term “Card”
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Originally debaters placed types of
evidence/quotations onto index cards and carried
huge
g 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
g Qualityy Cards
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Warrant supporting
pp
g the claim
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Qualified source
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Date—Recently
yp
published
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Specific
p
to the issue
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Direct and clear language
g g
Basic Elements of Each Card
Tag
… Shortened Cite
… Full
F ll Cite
C
… Full Text
… Warrant
… Underlining or Highlighting
…
Fabrication
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General definition: Untruthful manufacturing or
alteration of text or cite
† Manufacturing—writing
g
g
your
y
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
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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
g and Highlighting
g g g
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Be very careful
careful—itit is very difficult to do correctly.
It is better to read too much than too little.
Retain the WARRANT.
WARRANT
Retain proper grammar.
A id altering
Avoid
l i the
h iintent off the
h author.
h
Notice when your opponents have made their cards
too short.
h