By popularonion - 15/04/2016 04:09 - Canada - London
I agree, your life sucks
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popularonion tells us more.
Hey guys, OP here! I finally made an account because my FML got published! (Wow! I didn't actually expect it to!) While I agree with the comments that say I should have reviewed debate points from the other side, it was a pretty sudden thing for my teacher to do (I think she told me 5 minutes before the debate started) and not only did I not have very helpful notes, I was kind of shaken up by the change, which definitely didn't help me. The way we were doing the debate was one-on-one, with both people arguing their points at separate times. She only switched me, and that was because the side I originally chose had 2 more people than the other side, and she thought I was a strong enough debater (even though I really don't think I am) that I could easily adapt. In the end, everything was fine, I managed to write a few points down from my original notes, and I stumbled through them for the length of the debate. (Two minutes for each person, so it wasn't too long) My teacher apologized, but said I did well nonetheless. Thank you to everyone who commented!
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sun tzu - "If you know the enemy and yourself you need not fear the result of a hundred battles..." a good debator knows the arguments of his opponent and prepares counterpoints ahead of time.
Just say **** you bitch I studied this shit too long for that garbage.
The teacher may be a butt at least you're ready for the rebuttal
In that situation you must get to the point in debate where your response is "Well **** you". Needless to say I didn't do well in debate.
To be prepared for a debate usually means you know what the opponents main arguments are, so you can effectively counter them. It also means that you should know any major problems with your argument are, so you should have been at least reasonably ready to take the other side
Learning how to work under pressure is one of the single most important things for a great career in the future. Good Luck, OP.
Well to be fair, when you were thinking about your argument on one side, you inadvertently must have thought about the other side of the argument when doing so lol in any case it is an unfortunate situation :(
Kids these days really are entitled whingers and the OP is not too bright either. Sounds like a genuinely good teacher. The lesson there is that you need to seriously research both sides of a debate regardless of which side you are arguing. Valuable lesson.
CloudKumo
12
Uh, not really. The teacher blatantly lied to him and he was fully prepared for what he was supposed to do.
It was a good lesson, and it was really on me for not researching both sides, but I am new to debate and didn't know. Like I said in my follow-up, I did well anyway, but it did cause me a lot of unnecessary stress, haha :) Thanks for your comment!
You sound like a pretty entitled whinger yourself, 47.
Well, I bet your counterarguments must have been fantastic!
elizacandle
29
Debaters should ALWAYS know both sides of the argument.
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Hate to say it but that was probably the point. Your teacher made everyone debate the opposite sides so that he/she could see how well you actually can debate, without pre-planning. Pure, on the spot debate, even for something you disagree with (going on the assumption you chose the side you agreed with more before she made everyone switch). Tldr it was probably on purpose.
Your original points may not have been great, but I'm sure your counter arguments were fantastic with your understanding of the opposition