2026 – 2027 Season
Lincoln Douglas
Syllabus
Excited to work on LD with you!
Resolution 1 · Fall 2026
Liberty ought to be prioritized over order.
Before our first meeting we're going to all do a lot of research and individual preparation. Below you'll find a list of tasks for each week.
This syllabus is oriented towards preparing for Clash in the Cloud, which is September 18–19. To be best prepared for that tournament, it would be great to have your cases written and do at least one practice round. Here is a schedule I think would get you there, hopefully as low-stress as possible! If this feels like too much for you, given your other commitments, please let us know and we can easily adjust!
The first local tournament is November 19–21 in Nashville.
Resolution 2 · February 1, 2027
In regulating emerging technologies, governments ought to prioritize caution over innovation.
We will send out an updated syllabus covering the 2nd Resolution once we know tournament dates.
Key dates
Stoa Webinar
Mon, Aug 10 · 7:00 CST
Clash in the Cloud
Sept 18–19
Online tournament
Big Muddy Bash
Week of Oct 11–17
Chesterfield, MO
David Helton Tennessee Twist
Nov 19–21
Nashville, TN
August 9 – 15 This week
Setup & Research
Meeting
Watch the Stoa webinar — Monday, August 10, 7:00 CST
Tasks
- Create an LD Res 1 document, with tabs for Aff, Neg, and Definitions
- Read the resolution & copy it onto your document (super helpful for reference!)
- Find 5 credible definitions for each term in the resolution
- Read Charis's voting guide, particularly the section on this resolution
-
Read articles (these are just a couple I found on the first page of Google)
- Order and the American Culture of Liberty — Acton Institute
- The Declaration of Independence and the Concept of Liberty — National Constitution Center
- Do your research! Liberty, order, and the nature of sacrificing one
- Find political philosophers!
- Find quotes and put them on your documents (include URLs)
- Organize your thoughts. What's worth arguing? What are weak arguments that could be thrown out? (Also, how do we argue the American culture of liberty vs. order when the resolution doesn't specify America?)
- If you're having trouble, reach out on the group text thread.
August 16 – 22 This week
Research & Organize
Tasks: continue to research
- Find articles, cut quotes
- Stick with it! It might feel grueling, but the deeper you can go the better!
- Angles you can take: history, philosophy, economics, science
- Look at the issue in terms of different values
- Brainstorm values, pick one if possible
- Type out parts of your thought process on your document tabs to keep track of your inclinations
- Start work on skeletons (case outlines)
- Find historical examples
Email me if you're having trouble! alisonrosehuntington@gmail.com
August 23 – 29 This week
Finish Outlines
- Work on & finish outlines
- Start to fill in with rhetoric, especially under contentions
Building your skeleton? Use Anatomy of an Aff Case as your checklist.
Group Meeting · August 27
Due: Completed skeletons (some rhetoric if possible)
What's ahead: First draft by the next meeting!
August 30 – September 5 This week
First Drafts
Work on & finish first drafts! Rhetoric under:
- Intro
- Definitions
- RAs (if you have any)
- Value
- Criterion (if you have one)
- Contentions
- Subpoints
- Applications
- Conclusion
What each part needs: Anatomy of an Aff Case.
Group Meeting · September 3
Piranha pack #1, evaluate goals, CX how-to & practice
Due: First draft of your cases
What's coming next week: Work on & finish second drafts
September 6 – 12 This week
Practice & Briefing
Homework
- Give your cases to your family/friends and ask them to poke holes in your case
- Strengthen your cases to resist those arguments
- Draft responses to popular arguments
- Draft CX questions (10 per side)
Group Meeting · September 10
Practice round #1
What's coming next week: Refine cases, responses, and CX questions based on practice feedback
September 13 – 19 This week
Practice & Prep
Revise cases, prep for CITC
Group Meeting · September 17
Practice round #2
Tournament · Sept 18–19
Clash in the Cloud
September 20 – 26 This week
Ballot Review
Group Meeting · September 24
Go over ballots from CITC
Homework: to be announced
September 27 – October 3 This week
Group Meeting · October 1
Details coming soon
Homework: to be announced
October 4 – 10 This week
Group Meeting · October 8
Details coming soon
Homework: to be announced
October 11 – 17 This week
No Group Meeting · Tournament
Big Muddy Bash — Chesterfield, MO
Homework: to be announced
October 18 – 24 This week
Group Meeting · October 22
Details coming soon
Homework: to be announced
October 25 – 31 This week
Group Meeting · October 29
Details coming soon
Homework: to be announced
November 1 – 7 This week
Group Meeting · November 5
Details coming soon
Homework: to be announced
November 8 – 14 This week
Group Meeting · November 12
Details coming soon
Homework: to be announced
November 15 – 21 This week
No Group Meeting · Tournament
David Helton Tennessee Twist — Nov 19–21, Nashville
November 22 – 28 This week
No Group Meeting
Thanksgiving break
November 29 – December 5 This week
Wrap Up Res 1, Start Res 2
Group Meeting · December 3
- Review ballots
- Start 2nd Res
Homework: to be announced
Anatomy of an Aff Case
An LD Affirmative case is built from these parts, in this order. Not every one is required — but this is the skeleton to fill in when you sit down to write.
What Tag means
Any section marked with that label should include a tag in your final case — a short statement you repeat when you introduce that section.
For example
…which brings me to my value for today, which is Human Flourishing. Again, my value is Human Flourishing. Human flourishing can be understood as…
-
Introduction
Hook
A story, a quote, or just a statement. Ideally 3–6 sentences if you’re telling a story or giving an example.
Roadmap statement
It’s because I believe that [insert primary thesis here] that I stand resolved: ______.
Or something similar.
-
Definitions
Define the key terms in the resolution. These come out of your first week of research — five credible definitions for each term, narrowed down to the ones you want to defend.
-
Resolutional Analysis
Optional TagThese are probably the most confusing part of writing an LD case. Simply put, RAs are places to put clarifications you want to make about the round. If added, an RA will usually make a significant change in what you need to prove in order to win. For that reason, it’s important to communicate why you’re narrowing down the resolution in this particular way — is it because the authors intended it, or because it makes the debate more fair? Otherwise the judge may not buy that the resolution needs to be narrowed.
RAs can be statements about the scale of the debate (are we talking about A vs. B for an individual, for society, or for governments?) or about the primary conflict of the round (A vs. B is really asking us whether we choose X or Y).
Don’t force it
If RAs are confusing, or just not necessary to the argument you want to prove, don’t worry about it! Usually about half of LD cases have RAs — the rest just focus on the value, contentions and applications. (That goes for me as well; I don’t use RAs very often.) But it’s worth knowing what an opponent means when they bring one up.
-
Value
TagName your value, repeat it, then explain what it means — that’s the tag pattern above.
Reason to Prefer · RTP
TagYour 1–2 sentence defense of why your value ought to be preferred to any your opponent might bring up.
-
Contention 1
TagSubpoints
Optional TagOptional, but helpful! Give each one its own tag.
Applications
Also helpful! Examples from life, history, science, politics, philosophy, and so on.
-
Contention 2
TagSame shape as Contention 1 — any subpoints (each tagged) and applications.
-
Conclusion
Short — 1 to 3 sentences.
Worked examples
In the shared case document, open the Document Tabs section and you’ll find tabs with finished cases I’ve competed with. I’ve left comments on how I would say certain parts, along with some strategy notes.
Hope all this helps — happy case writing!
Questions or feeling overwhelmed? Reach out on the group text, or email alisonrosehuntington@gmail.com.
Also competing in speech? See the Speech syllabus.