Basic Downloads

Are you new to speech and debate? The following downloads are for you. They contain introductions to various events that the Monument Membership explores. These downloads are updated every summer to prepare for the new year of competition.

Your Basic Downloads Source Material for Season 22:

Tactical Negative Debating (January 12, 2019)
Supply and Demand (January 12, 2019)
Strategies for Negative Policy Debating (January 12, 2019)
Harms-Solvency Case Structure (January 12, 2019)
Evidence (January 12, 2019)
Ethical Evidence (by Vance Trefethen) (January 12, 2019)
Case Construction (January 12, 2019)
Cross-examination (by Vance Trefethen) (January 12, 2019)
Alternative Policy Case Structures (January 12, 2019)
Advanced Analysis and Refutation (January 12, 2019)
Hierarchy of Speech and Debate (January 12, 2019)
Evidence in Lincoln-Douglas (January 12, 2019)
Cross Examination (by Travis Herche) (January 12, 2019)
Believable Blocking in Interp (January 12, 2019)
12 Ways to Be More Persuasive (January 12, 2019)
Focus on Nationals (January 12, 2019)
Strategic Negative Debating Part 2 (January 12, 2019)
Strategic Negative Debating Part 1 (January 12, 2019)
Speaking Drills (January 12, 2019)
Pre-scripting Arguments (January 12, 2019)
Improving Delivery (January 12, 2019)
How to Make a Good Case Great (January 12, 2019)
Cross Examination (by Matthew Erickson) (January 12, 2019)
Advanced Values (January 12, 2019)
Value of Library Research (January 12, 2019)
Negative Briefing (January 12, 2019)
Government Documents for Research Part 2 (January 12, 2019)
Government Documents for Research Part 1 (January 12, 2019)
Ethical Evidence (January 12, 2019)
Principles of Great Refutation (January 12, 2019)
Stripes of the Champion Apologist (January 12, 2019)
Apologetics Foundations (January 12, 2019)
Judge Expectations in Apologetics (January 12, 2019)
Economic Concepts in Extemp Part 1 (January 12, 2019)
Economic Concepts in Extemp Part 2 (January 12, 2019)
Extemp Basics and Champion Analysis Part 2 (January 12, 2019)
Extemp Basics and Champion Analysis Part 1 (January 12, 2019)
Interview with Scott Wunn of NSDA (January 12, 2019)
Caution and Craziness Part 3 (January 12, 2019)
Caution and Craziness Part 2 (January 12, 2019)
Caution and Craziness Part 1 (January 12, 2019)
Power of Persuasion (January 12, 2019)
Organization and Time Management (January 12, 2019)
Making Yourself a Credible Speaker (January 12, 2019)
Primary Research (January 12, 2019)
Organizing Your Speech (January 12, 2019)
Nonverbal Communication (January 12, 2019)
Extemp Ethics (January 12, 2019)
Revising Your Speech (May 28, 2020)
Introduction to the SCORRE Method (January 12, 2019)
Using Logic in Debate (January 12, 2019)
Clashing Worldviews (January 12, 2019)
Flowing Lincoln Douglas Debate (January 12, 2019)
Topicality (January 11, 2019)

Download Your Preseason Documents, too:

You may still access Season 21 downloads here.

All Season 22 Basic Downloads will be updated by August 31, 2021. They will remain available through Season 22.

Easy Entry to the World of Speech and Debate

All Members have access to the digital copy of Easy Entry to the World of Speech and Debate by Chris Jeub. Download it below or order a hard copy.

Season 22 Release Schedule

Monument releases content all year long, from one national tournament to another, in what we call "seasons." We are entering Season 22 (2021-2022). For a list of all Member downloads for Season 21, click here. The following is the general release schedule for Season 22:

End of Season 21 - Officially archived on June 28, 2021. The new Season 22 releases begin July 5, 2021.
July-August - The first Monument Monday releases July 5, 2021. Basic informational material will continue through the summer (e.g. summaries, resolutional articles, etc.).
August 30, 2021 - End of the Pre-season, beginning of the official year of Monument Speech and Debate.
~~Christmas~~ Thanksgiving 2021 (we finished early!) - All foundational downloads are complete! Summaries of all releases are now available.
Through March 2022 - BONUS material released to members on a more as-needed basis using our Coaching Request Form.
April-June, 2022 - Qualifier and Nationals Preparation work is arranged...and Monument Members will be prepared to win!

Season 22 Debate Resolutions

Resolutions for Season 22 are posted here as they are announced by various speech and debate leagues.

Policy (all season):
- NCFCA: "Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly reform its policies regarding convicted prisoners under federal jurisdiction."
- NSDA: "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its protection of water resources in the United States."
- NSDA Vote for Season 23 (Due December 15, 2021):
  - OPTION 1 – GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its support of multilateral greenhouse gas emission reduction regimes.
  - OPTION 2 – GLOBAL GEO-POLITICAL CRISIS: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity.
- Stoa: "Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reform the use of Artificial Intelligence technology."
Lincoln-Douglas:
- NCFCA (all season): "Resolved: In the context of innovation, the proactionary principle ought to be valued above the precautionary principle."
- NSDA releases six resolutions through the year:
  - Sept/Oct Novice: "Resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified."
  - Sept/Oct Varsity: "Resolved: The member nations of the World Trade Organization ought to reduce intellectual property protections for medicines."
  - Nov/Dec: "Resolved: A just government ought to recognize an unconditional right of workers to strike."
  - Jan/Feb: "Resolved: The appropriation of outer space by private entities is unjust."
  - Next release is due February 1, 2022.
- Stoa (all season): "Resolved: In the field of biomedical engineering, restraint ought to be prioritized over scientific advancement."
Other Formats:
- Big Questions Debate (all season): "Resolved: On balance, societies benefit from religious belief and practice."
- Public Forum for Sept/Oct: "Resolved: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization should substantially increase its defense commitments to the Baltic states."
- Public Forum for Nov/Dec: "Resolved: Increased United States federal regulation of cryptocurrency transactions and/or assets will produce more benefits than harms."
- Public Forum for January: "Resolved: The United States federal government should legalize all illicit drugs."
- Public Forum's next release is due January 1, 2022.

Permission & Usage

Click Here for complete information on permissions. All Membership content and Library Archives are proprietary intellectual content, so please respect our copyrights. Simply put, if you are not a Monument Member, you may not use it or share its content. If one partner of a debate team is a member and the other is not, the one who is a Monument Member must be the controller of the logins, downloads and incorporation of the Monument Membership material. Sharing logins is strictly prohibited, the only exception being from immediate family members within a single household.