By Raffles Debaters Exco ’20
Who are debaters? Perhaps you have seen us on one of our regular trips to Chill, leaving with an armful of coffee, honey lemon and Strepsils (and sometimes, to the sighs of our coaches, spicy seaweed that is bound to ruin our throats). You might also have spotted us going up to the cashier at Popular bookstore, trying our best to balance a teetering tower of blank index cards. If you happened to be in school on a Monday or Wednesday afternoon, you may have even caught us rushing up the stairs to the 4th floor classrooms (the only cardio we do in this CCA).
Jokes aside, the simple answer is this: we are a motley crew of people who bond over our common love for arguing (in debates only, we must stress—it is probably unwise to extend this into one’s daily life) and desire to become better at it. Although we say “arguing”, debating is more than that—it is a clash of style and wit, where speakers go head-to-head in a fiery exchange of arguments and rebuttals. In debates, teams are given a topic, such as “This house would support military retaliation against cyber attacks”, to either propose or oppose (we don’t get to choose our sides!). Speakers then construct and defend their case while attacking their opponent’s case, often by evaluating moral principles and practical outcomes for different stakeholders. Ultimately, logic and rhetoric must be wielded effectively to convince the judges of their team’s stance.
Continue reading “CCA Previews ’20: Raffles Debaters”
