Enrichment · Passion Projects

Claim, warrant, evidence.
For every argument.

A debate case is only as strong as its weakest card. Set out the resolution and your side, define the terms from real sources, and build each argument as a claim, the reason it is true and the evidence behind it, with the author’s qualification and the year. The organizer flags old evidence, unnamed authors and a round that is close with too few arguments.

Start a caseWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
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Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Passion projects kit, $39 for 34 items.

Cases

The worked example is made up around a sample resolution on school start times: an affirmative case whose three sources are all over five years old, and a thin negative case with an unnamed author. Records save on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Passion Projects$5

What you finish with
A record per case with the resolution, event, side and round date; key terms with definitions and sources; arguments as claim, warrant, author and qualification, source and year; answers to the other side; five evidence checks; counts of arguments and of evidence over five years old; flags for old evidence, missing authors, terms with no source and a round within two weeks with fewer than three arguments.
Who it is for
Middle and high school debaters in Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Parliamentary and Congressional debate, classroom debaters and their coaches.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per case. Prints a case as a brief, every case as a table or a blank research sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file to share with a partner.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Passion projects kit ($39) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Write the resolution word for word and pick your side.
  2. Define the terms the round will turn on, with sources.
  3. Build each argument as claim, warrant and evidence.
  4. Research the other side’s best arguments and write your answers.
  5. Print the brief and practice it aloud against a timer.

Start a case

How an argument holds up

One argument, three partsClaimWhat you say is trueLater start times improve teen sleep.WarrantWhy it is truePuberty shifts the body clock later, so earlierstarts cut sleep short.EvidenceWho says so, with qualification and yearA medical association’s policy statement, 2014.Missing a warrant, an argument is only an assertion.One argument, three partsClaimLater start times improve teensleep.WarrantPuberty shifts the body clocklater, so earlier starts cut sleepshort.EvidenceA medical association’s policystatement, 2014.No warrant? It is only an assertion.
An example built from the worked example. Each event has its own rules for how evidence must be cited and shown; check your league’s.

Evidence that survives cross-examination

Opponents attack evidence in three places: who wrote it, when, and whether the quote matches the article. Note each author’s qualification, prefer recent sources for anything that changes quickly, and read the whole article so a card is never taken out of context. Researching the other side first shows you where your case is thin.

Citations

Debate leagues set rules for evidence: what has to be cited, how much of the original must be available, and what counts as misrepresenting a source. The National Speech & Debate Association publishes its rules each year, and many tournaments use them.

Sources

  1. National Speech & Debate Association. Evidence Rules and event descriptions, updated each season (speechanddebate.org).
  2. American Academy of Pediatrics (2014). School start times for adolescents. Pediatrics, 134(3): source of the example’s first argument.
  3. Wahlstrom, K., and others (2014). Examining the Impact of Later High School Start Times on the Health and Academic Performance of High School Students. University of Minnesota, CAREI.
  4. Edwards, F. (2012). Early to rise? The effect of daily start times on academic performance. Economics of Education Review, 31(6).

The worked example is made up around a sample resolution; the studies it names are real but summarized in a line. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.