Event Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PELHAM DEBATE

For 31 years, Mr. Thomas Glenn Pelham presided over the Barkley Forum for High Schools. As the winning coach at the tournament in 1959, he appreciated the difficulty of competition. As Director of Forensics at Emory from 1960-1972, he was the architect who crafted the traditions of the tournament and of the Barkley Forum organization. His death in April 1987 created a void in national forensics, which simply cannot be filled. In recognition of his striking achievements, the Barkley Forum honored him by naming the policy debate competition The Pelham Debates.

The Barkley Forum for High Schools will use the National Speech and Debate Association topic for the current year. A member school is guaranteed entry for two teams of varsity strength composed of two speakers each.  The Barkley Forum tournament is highly competitive. In fairness to your debaters, we recommend that you only bring students fully prepared for experienced level debate.

Non-member schools will be granted admission on the basis of applications that speak to the varsity experience of debaters. Substitutions will be discouraged.  The Barkley Forum will designate a swing team should it be necessary to even the number of participating teams. 

Each team will debate both sides of the proposition, three rounds affirmatively and three rounds negatively in a cross-examination  (8-3-5) format with eight (8) minutes of preparation time. All teams will debate the six preliminary rounds. There will be five exhibition tutorial rounds for the thirty-two teams that are invited to participate.

We will have a mutual judge preference system for the Pelham Debates, so it is especially important that your judges are entered accurately in a timely fashion. If your judges are not entered by the time prefs go up, you will be required to pay the full judge hire fee. More details will follow via email closer to the tournament date.  We will be using an ordinal ranking system.  Please note that the judge preferences do not apply to the Thomas Glenn Pelham Silver Key Debate.  Please have all judges post his or her judge philosophy at http://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com.

Judges will be assigned by mutual preference in all preliminary rounds and in the tutorials up to and including The Richard B. Sodikow Tutorial.   The exhibition rounds in all divisions will be evaluated by a panel of judges from the Key Coaches of the Barkley Forum.

Judges are required to vote for one and only one team and to make their decision within 2 hours and 15 minutes from the posted start time of the prelim debates, and 2 hours and 30 minutes for elimination debates. This time limit will be strictly enforced by the tournament.  Participants in the Phyllis Flory Barton Tutorial (octos) must flip for sides on Sunday morning by 7:15 a.m.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

The purpose of Lincoln-Douglas debate is to provide a public forum for issues of value.  Thus, arguments should be constructed using sound and ethical rules of persuasion. Clash is required.  Affirmative teams must support the resolution and negative teams must oppose the resolution.  The affirmative position must be fully developed in the first speech.  Cross-examination is to be emphasized in the evaluation process.  The time limits for the contest will be as follows:

            Affirmative Constructive                       Six minutes

            Negative Cross-examination                 Three minutes

            Negative constructive                           Seven minutes

            Affirmative Cross-examination              Three minutes

            Affirmative Rebuttal                             Four minutes

            Negative Rebuttal                                Six minutes

            Affirmative Rebuttal                            Three minutes

Four minutes of preparation time will be assigned to each speaker to be allocated as the speaker chooses. The topic for debate will be the national topic debated during the months of January and February.

A member school may enter two debaters of varsity strength. A non-member school may apply for two slots.  Up to the 32 individuals (with a record of 4-2 or better) with the highest win-loss records will be selected for exhibition tutorial performances.

We will have a mutual judge preference system for the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, so it is especially important that your judges are entered accurately in a timely fashion. If your judges are not entered by the time prefs go up, you will be required to pay the full judge hire fee.  More details will follow via email closer to the tournament date.  Please note that the judge preferences do not apply to The Dale Lauder McCall Exhibition.  Please have all judges post his or her judge philosophy at http://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com.

Judges will be assigned by mutual preference in all preliminary rounds and in the tutorials up to and including The Patricia Bailey Tutorial.   The exhibition rounds in all divisions will be evaluated by a panel of judges from the Key Coaches of the Barkley Forum.

Debates should start as soon as all participants and the judge are in the room.  All decisions must be entered by one hour and fifteen minutes after the announced start of the flight or tab will flip a coin to decide the winner of the round.

Participants in outrounds during Flight A should flip 15 minutes before the announced start of the round in the assigned room (or outside the room, if a round is still going on).  Participants in outrounds during Flight B should report to the tab room 15 minutes before the announced start of the flight for the flip.  If you are not present for the coin flip, the other debater will pick her/his side, and you will be assigned the opposite side.  

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE

Entry: Each member school is invited to enter ten delegates. Non-member schools will be granted admission of up to ten delegates on the basis of applications that speak to the delegates’ level of experience. No Pelham debater, Lincoln-Douglas contestant, Public Forum debater, or Speech Events entrant may enter Congressional Debate at the Barkley Forum for High Schools. The last day for drops in Congressional Debate is January 9, 2018. 

Judges: One qualified judge must be provided exclusively for Congressional Debate by any school who has entries in this event.

Legislation: Each participating school may submit up to two items of legislation (no more than one per students) by January 8, 2018 using official templates (available here) by uploading them to https://goo.gl/n8wEmy. Only serious legislation of national scope (no state-specific issues, please) using the official templates will be accepted. The complete docket of accepted preliminary legislation will be released by January 12, 2018. Semis legislation will be released on January 17, and Finals legislation will be released January 26.

Procedure: Unless otherwise stipulated here, or by tournament officials, procedural rules and time limits will be those set forth by National Speech and Debate Association rules (see http://www.speechanddebate.org/).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE

Public Forum Debate was added to the events at the Barkley Forum for High Schools in honor of the 50th anniversary of the tournament in 2005.  Public Forum Debate is designed to engage students in debate about current, controversial issues in front of community audiences.

Each member school is invited to enter two teams in Public Forum Debate.  Non-member schools will be granted admission of up to two teams on the basis of applications that speak to the level of experience of the teams. The 32 teams with the highest win-loss records (provided that record is 4-2 or better) will be selected for exhibition tutorial performances, depending on the number of entrants. We are adding a partial triples out round to the schedule to make sure that all teams with a winning record clear. We plan on clearing all 4-2 or better teams.

Unless otherwise stipulated by tournament officials, rules for procedure will be those contained in the National Speech and Debate Association’s Public Forum Debate manual. A Public Forum round begins with a flip of a coin between the competing teams to determine sides and speaker position.

The time limits for the contest will be as follows:

                     First Speaker – Team A                            Four Minutes

                     First Speaker – Team B                            Four Minutes

                     Crossfire                                                 Three Minutes

                     Second Speaker – Team A                        Four Minutes

                     Second Speaker – Team B                        Four Minutes

                     Crossfire                                                 Three Minutes

                     Summary – First Speaker – Team A           Two Minutes

                     Summary – First Speaker – Team B           Two Minutes

                     Grand Crossfire                                        Three Minutes

                     Final Focus – Second Speaker – Team A     Two Minutes

                     Final Focus – Second Speaker – Team B     Two Minutes

                     Preparation Time (per team)                      Two Minutes

 The topic for debate will be the national topic debated during the month of January.

Once confirmed, decisions are final. To encourage the pedagogical aims of the tournament and to avoid any confusion with ballot entry, we encourage judges to disclose their decisions but only after they have entered their decision on Tabroom.

No Pelham debater, Lincoln-Douglas contestant, Congressional Debate contestant or Speech Events entrant may enter Public Forum Debate at the Barkley Forum for High Schools.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SPEECH EVENTS

Each school may have up to four entries in any event at the Forum.  No extra entries are allowed due to space limitations.  No triple entries will be allowed.  No Pelham debater, Lincoln-Douglas contestant, Public Forum debater, or Congressional Debate participant may participate in Speech Events.

SCORING

Each student will be ranked by the judge from 1st place to 9th place and given points within a specified range. Students participating in the Lanny Dean Naegelin rounds will be selected in the following manner:

The top 24 performing speakers in each event after 5 preliminary rounds will be invited to participate on the basis of:

            1)         Total number of ranks. In case of a tie:

            2)         Total number of accrued points. In case of a tie:

            3)         Drop high and low ranks.

The same system will be used to determine which contestants will be invited to participate in the Tutorials. Should the number of entries in any given event not warrant breaking to quarterfinals, the tab room staff will make that determination during the course of the tournament. 

TIMING

For each Speech Event, there is a 30-second grace period for going over the time limit. Violations of time limits, including the grace period, may be penalized at the discretion of the judge for the participant. However, unless clear time signals are given throughout the performance, a student should not be penalized for going over time. 

JUDGING

All judges should report to the ballot table no later than fifteen minutes prior to the round’s scheduled start time in order to facilitate remaining on schedule.  If you are bringing inexperienced judges, please have them review materials and take the judge training (if available for the event they will be judging) on the NSDA website.

PATTERNS

The events in Pattern A will be Extemporaneous Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, and Humorous Interpretation.  The events in Pattern B will be Original Oratory, Duo Interpretation, and Prose and Poetry.

Dramatic Interpretation

Dramatic Interpretation is NOT an acting contest. No props, make-up or costumes will be allowed. This event stresses the value of the presentation of the written word and the contestant’s ability to interpret the author's meaning. Does the contestant appear to have a thorough understanding of the work he or she is presenting?  Character development is a key component in the evaluation of a performance. Does the contestant differentiate between characters and capture the essence of the relationship and interplay between them?  As well, has the contestant chosen an appropriate selection for the time allotted? Does the selection form a coherent presentation, one that gives the judge and audience an adequate understanding of the total work?

Contestants will present a cutting from published plays, screenplays, fictional or non-fictional work that is dramatic in nature.  Manuscripts will not be allowed in the 2018 Forum.  Time Limit: 10 minutes, inclusive of introduction and transitions, with a 30-second grace period for going over time. The cutting should not have been used by the contestant prior to the 2017-2018 school year.

No Dramatic Interpretation contestant will be eliminated before performing five times. Those reaching the final exhibition round will have performed eight times.

*  Any contestant whose material is challenged and who cannot produce an appropriate bibliographic reference and a manuscript is subject to disqualification. The Barkley Forum strongly discourages anyone making an unfounded challenge. The Barkley Forum stresses education over unfettered competition.

Humorous Interpretation

This is an individual category in which the selections are humorous in nature. All other rules are the same as Dramatic Interpretation.

Duo Interpretation

This is a two-person category in which the selection may be either humorous or dramatic in nature. No touching or eye contact is allowed other than in the introduction and/or transitions.  Contestants must remain in a general upright position and have off-stage focus.  All other rules are the same as Dramatic Interpretation.

Prose and Poetry

Contestants shall present readings from selections of both prose and poetry.  Students will alternate between prose and poetry.  Round 1 will begin with poetry, alternating throughout the tournament until the final exhibition, which will be prose. 

Poetry is writing which expresses ideas, experience, or emotion through the creative arrangement of words according to their sound, their rhythm, and their meaning. Poetry may rely on verse and stanza form. Prose expresses thought through language recorded in sentences and paragraphs: fiction (short stories, novels) and non-fiction (articles, essays, journals, biographies).  Only published, printed works may be used. No plays or other dramatic materials may be used.

Time Limit: 10 minutes, inclusive of introduction and transitions, with a 30-second grace period for going over time. The cutting should not have been used by the contestant prior to the 2017-2018 school year.

No props of any kind are permitted with the exception of the speaker’s manuscript.  Manipulating articles of clothing, the manuscript, or other objects is not allowed. Speakers should keep gesture and bodily movement to a minimum.  The selection must be delivered from center stage.  Movement and gestures, if used, should be appropriate to the selection.  Walking is not permitted.  They should emphasize vocal variety and facial expression to enhance the literary interpretation.  Any singing must be limited to a maximum of thirty (30) seconds total within the presentation. Speakers may use a persona, and they may use character voices, but they are not necessary. 

*  Any contestant whose material is challenged and who cannot produce an appropriate bibliographic reference will be subject to disqualification. The Barkley Forum strongly discourages anyone from issuing a frivolous or unfounded challenge. The Barkley Forum stresses the value of education over unfettered competition.

Original Oratory

All oratory must be written by the contestant. Oratory is an event of polished speech art and persuasion. A message should be conveyed by the speaker. Oratory for persuasion with a solution, such as that intended for civic groups, is the intention of this contest. Judges will be instructed to favor the subtle approach.

The speech must be memorized. It should not have been used by the contestant prior to the 2017-2018 school year. The speech must be no more than ten minutes in length with a 30-second grace period for going over time. No orator will be eliminated before performing five times (see section about cumulative scoring). Those reaching the final exhibition round will have performed eight times.

Extemporaneous Speaking

Speakers will draw current interest news topics.  They will have a choice of three topics in each round.  Topics in each round will, generally, revolve around a theme or topic area.  For the 2018 tournament, the themes for each round will tentatively be as follows:

Round 1:     The Trump Administration

Round 2:     Middle East and Africa

Round 3:     The Americas

Round 4:     Domestic Social Issues

Round 5:     Eurasia

Quarters:     U.S. Foreign Policy

Tutorial:       Economy

Exhibition:  Potpourri

Speakers will be given thirty (30) minutes of total preparation time before presentation before a single judge, and will be asked to leave the preparation room and to proceed to their rounds twenty-five (25) minutes after drawing their topic.  Speakers will be graded not only on speaking qualities, but also on their aptitude for outlining new ideas and interpretations of current events.  They should demonstrate knowledge of contemporary history.

The contestant should receive no coaching help in the preparation time before his or her speech. No pre-written speeches or notes will be allowed in the preparation room. 

The tournament will follow the National Speech and Debate Association rules concerning the use of electronic retrieval devices.

Each speech must be a maximum of seven minutes with a 30-second grace period for going over the time limits.  A speaker will be penalized for failing to observe time limits, although individual judges have absolute discretion on the quantity of the penalty.  No contestant will be eliminated before performing five times.

Those selected for the final exhibition round will perform eight times.  Those selected for the final exhibition round will also be subject to cross-examination by another round participant for three (3) minutes after completing their speech.