In the end there’s always love
- Students use “Romeo and Juliet” as an example why is it important to discuss feelings and the issue of love in literature.
- Students learn how to develop affirmative and negative positions.
Teacher prepares groups dividing the class into two sides: affirmative and negative team. Class has previously read Shakespeare’s “Romeo on Juliet”. Preferably there are a few books in class.
Part 1: The teacher writes the question” Why is it so necessary to expose one’ s personal experience into the novel?” on the blackboard. A discussion follows why do writers have the need to express their feelings and what readers expect of books. The students are given a few minutes to think of and write down their pros or cons about the topic. After students are finished, the teacher divides the class into two groups of an even number of students.
Part 2: After students have been separated into an affirmative team and a negative team, the teacher writes the following resolution on the board: Why do you think love is so frequently mentioned in literature?
The affirmative team (pro resolution) present their opinion and come up with several reasons that support their position. The negative team present their opinion (anti resolution) and come up with several reasons that support their position. Both groups assign two people the role of spokesperson to deliver the team’s arguments to the class.
Part 3: A debate follows.
The first affirmative speaker
After a few minutes, the first spokesperson from the affirmative team gives a speech defending their position. The spokesperson is allotted five minutes to speak. While this person is speaking, the other team is quite.
The cross examination and preparation time
After the spokesperson for the affirmative team finishes their speech, the negative team asks questions to the affirmative team. The affirmative team should be allotted 5 minutes to ask questions spokesperson to answer.
The first negative speaker
After a few minutes, the first spokesperson from the negative team gives a speech defending their position. The spokesperson is allotted five minutes to speak. While this person is speaking, the other team is quite.
The cross examination and preparation time
After the spokesperson for the negative team finishes their speech, the affirmative team asks questions to the affirmative team. The affirmative team should be allotted 5 minutes to ask questions spokesperson to answer.
The second affirmative speech
After 3 minutes, the spokesperson from the affirmative team should give the final affirmative speech defending the topic. This speech should be a direct response to the negative team’s speech. The spokesperson should be allotted five minutes to speak. While this person is speaking, the other team should be quite. After the spokesperson has finished, the negative team should have 3 minutes to prepare the spokesperson for their speech. There should be no cross examination time to question the affirmative team.
The second negative speech
After 3 minutes, the spokesperson from the negative team should give the final negative speech arguing against the topic. This speech should be a direct response to the affirmative’s last speech. The spokesperson should be allotted five minutes to speak. While this person is speaking, the other team should be quite.
As the round comes to an end, the teacher should use the round as an opportunity to involve students to draw the conclusions of the debate.