This man has read so many books, they call him Marty Page. Check out his new article on Congressional Debate! “What is the current status of the Roma in Europe?” A fellow competitor asked me something along those lines during a debate on the Romani People during the 2010 Yale semifinal. It was a very basic but important question, and I didn’t know the answer. Because I didn’t know the answer, I dodged the question, saying that it “wasn’t the point.” Predictably, I did not compete in the final that year, and my ballots weren’t particularly kind to me. If you know me, you know I don’t like talking about my competitive career because what’s done is done. But this gaffe provides a great example of what happens when you don’t pay attention to the importance of topic knowledge in Congressional Debate. I had gone to camp the summer before and spent long hours working with my coach—I knew how to put an argument together and how to speak well. On that Sunday in September, that wasn’t enough if I didn’t understand the situation facing the Roma in the status quo. In all debate events, but particularly in Congress where the “Topic Analysis” isn’t a long-standing institution in briefs and practices, there is a near total focus on what arguments to make and how to make them. Holistic understanding of the broader context, history, and importance of topics is lacking. But as the Roma taught me, true success in Congressional Debate depends directly on how much you understand the fundamentals of the legislation and its subject.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 23:22:00 +0000
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