Shades of Red: Debaters Exhibit Throws of Emotion

By Stephanie Wilson

            On Thursday, December 11^th, 2008, at approximately 1:30 PM, several members of Mr. Murray’s grade 12 English class entered into a heated debate complete with logical fallacies, inappropriate jokes and malicious ridicule. The affirmative team, made up of Ben Cousins, Dawson Lybbert, and Justin Sweeney Cadieux, were brutally defeated by the opposing team of Stephanie Boucher, Stephanie MacDonald and Rebecca Ritchie and were crowned the losers of the debate by judges Seth Epps, Colton Bissonnette, and Logan Lubuk. Taking place in Mr. Murray’s English classroom the group was assigned the task of debating whether or not Miller’s definition of tragedy was appropriate to the modern age, and the result was many faces of various shades of red.

            Both teams began with strong, focused arguments. The affirmative presented how the likes of the audience had changed over time, and now preferred a more civilized performance. They argued that a story concerning the common man was more applicable to modern day society, and that it allowed for a better connection to the audience. While the team stumbled slightly during their delivery the points were clearly understood.

            The points then presented by the negative team were spoken very quickly, which took away from the poignancy of the arguments. The team made note of how Shakespearean tragedy fit into the multiple categories discussed in class, rather than one specific category and expanded upon the idea with a wide range of examples.

            Things quickly differed from formality, however, as appeals to flattery towards the judges arrived in the form of verbal compliments and hand made t-shirts. The group rebuttals soon became personal attacks and long, circling descriptions that lead nowhere. Stephanie Boucher, in particular became extremely angry and defensive as the discriminatory jokes from the affirmative team started flying.

            By the time the free for all section had arrived Boucher’s face was red with anger, MacDonald was red with embarrassment and Sweeney was red with shame. Murmurs of both agreement and disagreement began to rise from the audience and by the end of it, each individual clearly had decided upon their own, personal position on the argument.

            Overall, the heated debate, accentuated by the temperature of the room itself, gave many of the other students a good idea as to what to expect for their own debates and various ideas as to how they could improve upon their planning. Despite the cold weather outdoors, nothing seemed to affect the hot faces and shades of red experienced by the debaters of Thursday’s heated debate.