-Debate-
-Reflection-
For this project we started with a four corners style debate just getting our initial thoughts on the topics at hand. I was pretty adamant on the Syrian refugee topic but to be honest I was passionate about most of the topics but had the most background on the crisis in Syria. We were given articles about background information for each topic and were asked to choose which one we were most interested in. I already knew which side I most agreed with but being such a grey topic I did equal research on both sides. After writing short arguments, we put them into a position paper and gathered our 2-3 arguments for debate. The final product was an exhibition doing a live debate for each topic.
I started this project with little background and solely based my opinions on stereotypes. It ended up that these stereotypes were correctly assumed but then had background to back it up. To start I had little information about the causes of the war in Syria and the motivation behind ISIS and slowly started to gain understanding. The issues are much more complicated than I assumed and there really is no black and white to Syrian refugees or any topic in these debates for that matter. I also was able to research U.S policy and understand the complexity of the admission process.
Throughout this process I was able to modify my debating process and skills. I’ve always been stubborn and liked to argue but never had a format or outlet to convey that passion. The topic itself became more and more grey as time went on, and made it difficult to argue but I managed just fine. I learned to write out my entire argument and then pull out bullet points to keep the arguments consecutive and organized. I’ve done persuasive argument before but never to this extent. It allowed me to gather my thoughts before just yelling my opinion at people which was beneficial.
I started this project with little background and solely based my opinions on stereotypes. It ended up that these stereotypes were correctly assumed but then had background to back it up. To start I had little information about the causes of the war in Syria and the motivation behind ISIS and slowly started to gain understanding. The issues are much more complicated than I assumed and there really is no black and white to Syrian refugees or any topic in these debates for that matter. I also was able to research U.S policy and understand the complexity of the admission process.
Throughout this process I was able to modify my debating process and skills. I’ve always been stubborn and liked to argue but never had a format or outlet to convey that passion. The topic itself became more and more grey as time went on, and made it difficult to argue but I managed just fine. I learned to write out my entire argument and then pull out bullet points to keep the arguments consecutive and organized. I’ve done persuasive argument before but never to this extent. It allowed me to gather my thoughts before just yelling my opinion at people which was beneficial.