Ben Bethers

IB English
McKay Period 4
March 6, 2022

Hot Takes Debate Notes

- Debate gives students a greater reason to closely follow the contents of their book so they
can find evidence and build points off of the book
- Many students have the notion that debates are either a show of characteristics rather than
using evidence to build an argument, like political debates, or like a high school debate
where aggression is favored over listening
- Debate should be a thoughtful dialogue
- Three graduated steps to generate a good debate:
1. A warm up debate round, in which a funny or unimportant topic is discussed, can
be used to help students remember good vocabulary and rhetoric for productive
debate
2. Graduating from this warm up debate, the next step is proposing a topic that is
more serious in order to develop sophistication of thought along with the
rhetorical exercises from last step
3. The final step is to order your points and evidence to a coherent argument
- A hot take is an opinion or stance that is unpopular or controversial, therefore a hot take
debate is simply a debate in which a controversial opinion or stance is discussed
- Many times, hot take debates are reacted against with a fixed mindset and often times
outrage due to their controversial nature, but it is important to make sure that participants
are listening to each other and giving each other time to talk so that the debate remains
civilized and productive
- Structure of a Debate:
- Thesis:
- Connect with the audience first
- State what evidence is relevant to the subject
- Explain why what you are explaining is important
- Establish the authority on which you should be judged and why you
should be listened to
- Exposition:
- Take a stance on the subject you have presented and then present relevant
evidence for your stance
- Refutation:
- Prepare the best for what you think your opponent would say in opposition
to your exposition
 - Think about the basis for your opponent’s argument
- What makes your argument better and more credible than your opponent’s
- Conclusion:
- Repeat your stance, explain and summarize it to your audience
- Establish why you have won your argument, explain why your opponent
failed to topple your stance