Tash Mahnokaren
Staff Writer
The art of rhetoric has proved its timelessness since the beginning of the written word.
The study and development of rhetoric has its roots in Ancient Greece with the rise of the Greek democracy.
As the free male sought to earn esteem for himself in the political arena, he had to possess the literary competence to persuade his countrymen to vote for or against a particular piece of legislation.
According to Patrick Loftus who, along with Brandon Biggs, recently earned top speaking honors and placed third overall in British parliamentary debate at the College of Southern Idaho, rhetoric and debate permeate all aspects of our lives.
Loftus expressed that the British parliamentary debates are unlike usual parliamentary debates in which competitors are expected to have a wide knowledge base and specific arguments for different cases.
For Loftus, who normally participated in team policy debate where teams acting as congress would propose a policy and then debate it, the British parliamentary debate was different in that it was more inclined towards idea orientation.
In the British parliamentary debate, four teams normally compete and are split into groups of two, one of which will stand as the government and the other as the opposition.
The government stands in favor of the proposed notion while the other group stands in opposition and both teams, through reasoning and logical argumentation, debate their case.
At the end of each round, points are allocated to each group.
“The unique part about this aspect of debate is that even though there will be two teams on each side of the argument, everyone is competing with everyone,” said Loftus. “You get ranked based off of how you do in the round.”
The preliminary course for the competition can last between four to six rounds and qualifying groups will then go on to compete in the semi-final and final rounds.
According to Loftus, this is the debate club’s first year competing in the British Parliamentary debate competition.
Throughout the year, participants of the debate club also take part in individual speeches at debate competitions.
These consist of a given quote or argument to which the debater is expected to prepare and produce a speech or argument of about five minutes.
“I think it is fun because I like to stay up to date on different issues in the world and this gives me the opportunity to have different conversations and arguments with people that you wouldn’t otherwise have,” said Loftus. “There is also the aspect of the practical side of it where these are skills that you will use for the rest of your life whether you’re just talking to people or whatever industry you’re going into, these are all applicable skills.”
