Subject To Debate

Subject to Debate, Katha Pollitt's column in The Nation, has offered readers clear-eyed yet provocative observations on women, politics, and culture for more than seven years. Bringing together eighty-eight of her most astute essays on hot-button topics like abortion, affirmative action, and school vouchers, this selection displays the full range of her indefatigable wit and brilliance. Her stirring new Introduction offers a seasoned critique of feminism at the millennium and is a clarion call for renewed activism against social injustice.

Provides a thorough exploration of using debate as an educational tool in a wide variety of subject areas. Offers a comprehensive guide for integrating debate into the curriculum, designing proper formats, developing topics for debates, preparing students for debating, and staging the debates. Gives special treatment to 24 different subject areas, explaining why debate is valuable and how educators can use it, and suggesting topics for debate. The revised edition includes a new chapter on public debating and more than 100 new debate topics for use in the classroom.

The only current authorized edition of the classic work on parliamentary procedure--now in a new updated edition Robert's Rules of Order is the recognized guide to smooth, orderly, and fairly conducted meetings. This 12th edition is the only current manual to have been maintained and updated since 1876 under the continuing program established by General Henry M. Robert himself. As indispensable now as the original edition was more than a century ago, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised is the acknowledged "gold standard" for meeting rules. New and enhanced features of this edition include: Section-based paragraph numbering to facilitate cross-references and e-book compatibility Expanded appendix of charts, tables, and lists Helpful summary explanations about postponing a motion, reconsidering a vote, making and enforcing points of order and appeals, and newly expanded procedures for filling blanks New provisions regarding debate on nominations, reopening nominations, and completing an election after its scheduled time Dozens more clarifications, additions, and refinements to improve the presentation of existing rules, incorporate new interpretations, and address common inquiries Coinciding with publication of the 12th edition, the authors of this manual have once again published an updated (3rd) edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief, a simple and concise introductory guide cross-referenced to it.

An excerpt from the Author's PREFACE: THIS book treats of the various ways of convincing and persuading men. While intended as a text-book for high schools and colleges, it is also adapted to the needs of the lawyer, the preacher, the teacher, the citizen; in short, to any one who is called upon-and who is not?-to urge the acceptance of his ideas upon a hearer, or to refute ideas offered in opposition thereto. In our schools and colleges the value of argumentation as an independent branch of study is now generally recognized. But numerous as are the treatises on argumentation, the subject of debating is usually treated in a single chapter, or not at all. This book aims to meet the needs not only of the expert in argumentation, but also of the practical debater. The average citizen is called upon to argue orally far oftener than he is required to present a written argument; and of what avail is his knowledge and logic if they cannot be utilized in the discussions of every-day life? However, any attempt to teach debate in a thorough and systematic manner must involve the study of argumentation generally, and this, in turn, involves practice in brief-writing and argumentative composition. A treatise on debate, therefore, must include the subject of argumentation in all its phases - analysis, evidence, proof, the different kinds of arguments and how to meet them. But the present volume goes farther than this, and aims to show the student how he may utilize his training in writing when he is called upon to present his arguments orally before an actual audience and in the presence of an opponent who is waiting to reply. Debate being primarily a disciplinary study, not an informing one, the ultimate purpose of instruction in this One must be to lead one to think for himself, and to think straight. It is therefore a difficult subject to treat in a formal manner. The endeavor has been, however, to develop the treatment in a systematic way, making all suggestions as specific as possible, giving attention to one thing at a time, and supplementing principles and theories with illustrative matter and with exercises for practice. The Appendices contain further illustrative and reference material for general use; the questions for debate, references, rules of parliamentary procedure, specimen debates, etc., will be helpful not only to the teacher in class work, but also to members of literary and debating societies.

Debate holds enormous potential to build 21st century skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution in the K-12 classroom, but teachers often struggle to implement and contextualize it effectively. Using Debate in the Classroom draws on research from a variety of academic disciplines to explain the benefits of debate across subject areas, and describes how teachers can use debate to enliven their curriculum and support the aims of the Common Core. Topics include: Introducing debate as a pedagogical practice to engage students, improve school culture, and disrupt the school to prison pipeline. Using debate to teach critical literacy and improve students’ reading, writing, and speaking skills. Implementing role-playing techniques to strengthen information literacy and reasoning skills. Building students’ empathy, perspective-taking skills, and cultural humility as they confront difficult social issues through debate. Appendices provide a variety of tools to assist K-12 teachers in implementing debate in the classroom, including ready-made debate activities, student handouts, and a step-by-step guide to introducing students to debate in just one week.

From the PREFACE.This book treats of the various ways of convincing and persuading men. While intended as a textbook for schools and colleges, it is also adapted to the needs of the lawyer, the preacher, the teacher, the citizen; in short, to anyone who is called upon-as who is not?-to urge the acceptance of his ideas upon a hearer, or to refute ideas offered in opposition thereto.In our schools and colleges the value of argumentation as an independent branch of study is now generally recognized. But numerous as are the treatises on argumentation, the subject of debate is usually treated in a single chapter, or not at all. This book aims to meet the needs not only of the expert in argumentation, but also of the practical debater. The average citizen is called upon to argue orally far oftener than he is required to present a written argument; and of what avail is his knowledge and logic if they cannot be utilized in the discussions of every-day life? However, any attempt to teach debate in a thorough and systematic manner must involve the study of argumentation generally, and this, in turn, involves practice in writing and argumentative composition. A treatise on debate, therefore, must include the subject of argumentation in all its phases, -analysis, evidence, proof, the different kinds of arguments and how to meet them. But the present volume goes further than this, and aims to show the student how he may utilize his training in writing when he is called upon to present his arguments orally before an actual audience and in the presence of an opponent who is waiting to reply.Debate being primarily a disciplinary study, not an informing one, the ultimate purpose of instruction in this line must be to lead one to think for himself, to check errors in reasoning, and to think straight. Debate is therefore a difficult subject to treat in a formal manner. The endeavor has been, however, to develop the treatment in a systematic way, making all suggestions as specific as possible, giving attention to one thing at a time, and supplementing principles and theories with illustrative matter and with exercises for practice. In the one hundred and fifty questions for debate contained in the Appendix will be found a wide range of subjects for special investigations, discussions, and moot court practice.In the preparation of this treatise many helpful suggestions have been secured from various works on argumentation; special acknowledgements of which will be found in the text