Zhang,+Shirley

I debated for 3 years for Hockaday in Dallas, TX. I graduated in 2013 and now attend the University of Chicago.

Extensions: They are very important. Make sure you extend the whole argument (claim, warrant, impact). If you don’t extend the warrant, then I will view your argument as a warrantless claim. The only leeway I will give is if your opponent clearly drops your case and you need to extend a bunch of links to win.

Theory/Topicality: I don’t like paragraph theory. I don’t like clearly abusive theory arguments. I really don’t like debates with 3+ shells. Other than that, go for it.

K’s: I’m not familiar with any critical literature, so if you want to run one in front of me, slow down a little bit and make sure you actually know what it’s saying and can explain it well.

Plans/CPs/DAs: Go for it. The only thing I would say is that I’m not a big fan of crazy extinction scenarios, but I’ll still vote on them if you win them.

Speed: I haven't been involved in the activity for over a year now, so my ability to flow is not in great shape. I would suggest not going at your fastest speed. That being said, comprehensibility is key. If you try to speak so fast but are incomprehensible, that’s not considered speaking. I will say “clear” or “slow.”

Speaks will be docked if you are unnecessarily rude in round or if you ask me to vote on offensive (as in racist, sexist, etc) arguments.

Misc: I really like good framework debate with lots of clash and argument comparison. The keyword here is good, so don’t conform to this preference if you are not a framework debater. It helps if you have warrants for your arguments. Have some clash.