Assignment/Activity
Title— Debates Year— Sophomore
Skill—Research,
Public Speaking, Group work Portfolio Category—
Social Awareness
For the
first quarter as a CAP sophomore, we had to take a stance on a topic that we
found interesting and team up with another student to debate this topic, either
as positive or negative, against another team. After lightly researching some
of the topics I found fascinating, I decided that my first choice would be to
debate for the building of the Purple Line. This was a topic that was local,
and I had a personal perspective on it. I was the first to choose the Purple
Line, and my partner became John Gorman. We were the affirmative side, for
building the Purple Line and we were against Allison Mackenzie and Marianne
Benyamin. John and I spent a lot of time researching all about the Purple Line,
and learning about its supporting and opposing groups, as well as the benefits
and disadvantages of a light rail system. We found reliable sources and worked
together to write powerful
speeches, rebuttals, and cross examinations.
speeches, rebuttals, and cross examinations.
The hardest part of writing my speech was filling the whole
five minutes of time with a speech that provided strong reasoning but was also
informative and direct. Although this was
challenging, I began with
a rough outline of what I thought my speech should
include, using my knowledge of what I thought the other team might say. I ended
up writing a full speech, but created extra note cards in order to add
necessary information based on the speeches of my opponents. I put in lots of quotes and statistics and used expert
sources, and eventually my speech was about five minutes. Another challenge was
creating cross examination questions that would relate to what I thought the
opposing team would talk about. I was not sure of exactly what they would say,
and I had to use my research about their stance to infer what they might debate, then use my knowledge to cross examine them. I came to the
conclusion that they would mostly oppose the Purple Line for its environmental
impacts and cost, so I focused my questions on those topics. On the day of my debate, I felt fully prepared to fight for
building the Purple Line with John. Our debate went smoothly, and I felt
confident throughout and after the debate, especially after the audience
decided that my team had won the debate. This was a refreshing feeling, and it
made me want to debate more topics, and explore more about the world we live
in. This assignment has opened my mind to new perspectives, and encouraged me
to research more topics local to my area and learn their pros and cons, as well
as form my own opinion. I have also become very attentive to the changes that
the building of the Purple Line brings to Montgomery and Prince Georges County.
This project has changed my attitude and involvement in local projects, and I
feel more connected with where I live. I think this debate showcases my strengths as a CAP student
because of the amount of intricate research required and the ability to work
with someone that I had never worked with before. I was dedicated to my topic
and the interest level I had in what I was researching helped me get through
preparing for the debate. I believe that this project was successful for my
team and I am excited for more debates in the future.
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