History and analysis of intercollegiate debating in America.

This thesis consists of a history of debating in American colleges and universities and an analysis of the principles of logical proof and refutation in two intercollegiate debates. Debating began in China about 3,000 years ago and has continued in every civilized country until the present. In the United States, forensic contests began in the literary societies in the eighteenth century. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, debate evolved into intercollegiate contests which have continued until the present. At first these contests consisted of three-man teams and were judged on the merits of the subject. In the early part of the twentieth century, debate developed into contests with two-man teams and the judging changed to an evaluation of the effectiveness of the debating. The history includes an examination of different types of debates and brief histories of the forensic organizations. The study includes a discussion of the principles of logical proof and refutation and an analysis of these principles. The first debate analyzed in a National West Point Tournament final debate between Northwestern University and Wayne State University on the subject, Resolved: That Law Enforcement Agencies in the United States Should be Given greater Freedom in the Investigation and Prosecution of Crime. The second debate analyzed is a television debate between Baylor University and North Texas State University on the subject, Resolved: That Gambling Should be Legalized in All States. Some conclusions are made as a result of the research and analysis.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1967

Author dc:creator

• Capp, G. Richard, 1944-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Capp, Glenn R., 1910-1998.

• Debates and debating.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14243

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14243