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:

File Name	S22-LD-Stoa-Strategies.docx
File Size	40.17 KB
Date added	September 13, 2021
Category	Lincoln-Douglas (Stoa)
Author	Mark Csoros

Resolved: In the field of biomedical engineering, restraint ought to be prioritized over scientific advancement.

In Lincoln Douglas debate, most rounds are won or lost before the rebuttal speeches even begin. In fact, most rounds are won or lost before the two-minute mark of the Negative’s constructive. For all the attention paid to values, applications, contentions, cross-examination, and rhetoric, the most important part of LD is how the resolution is framed.

Conceptually, resolutional framing refers to the process of defining resolutional clash. Clash simply means “conflict between the two sides of the resolution,” and it’s such an important part of LD because of the word “over” in the resolution. Obviously, restraint and scientific advancement are both generally good things, and in a perfect world we could prioritize both. But because the resolution reflects the realities of an imperfect world, we have to choose one above the other, which means that we must debate about circumstances in which restraint and scientific advancement clash (or are in conflict). Thus, resolutional frameworks demonstrate how and when the two sides of the resolution clash, which allowing us to see what it really means to value one side of the resolution above the other.

In practice, resolutional framing impacts nearly every aspect of LD debate. It determines which applications are used (by indicating which applications demonstrate clash) how applications are used (by revealing which examples fall on which side of the resolution), how cases are structured, and how persuasive rhetoric is deployed. But despite their importance, frameworks are often treated as an afterthought, or mentioned briefly in a point of Resolutional Analysis and then ignored for the rest of the round. Effectively framing the resolution’s conflict provides a huge advantage, and this article is designed to help you gain and hold that advantage.

There are four main sections in this piece. The first introduces a unique difficulty in effective framing posed by the wording of this resolution. The following three sections lay out some strategic methods of overcoming that difficulty, along with the respective strengths and vulnerabilities of those methods.

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.