A Sense of Sensibility: A Well Prepared Debate

By Stephanie Wilson

            On Friday, December 12^th, 2008, at approximately 8:30 AM several members of Mr. Murray’s Grade 12 English Class performed a well-prepared debate, complete with arguments upon arguments and piles of quotes. The affirmative team made up of Ilayda Williamson, Mary Collins and Michaela Blaser were equally matched by the opposing team of Jessica Barton, Melissa Watson and Kelsey Cambell, and were ultimately defeated thanks to the decision made by judges Nick Leblond, Jennifer Ross and Yanick Lee. Taking place in Mr. Murray’s English classroom, the group was assigned the task of debating whether or not Prince Hamlet was crazy, and the result was an explosion of possibilities.

            Both teams represented their opinion using quotes and points of view from a variety of fields (ex: medical, legal and psychological). The affirmative began by illustrating that all of Hamlet’s qualities pointed to a mental disorder. They brought into light Hamlet’s ramblings, his murders and all of his actions that endangered the other characters. The team appeared well prepared and confident.

            The negative team then presented points, in a slightly shaky manner. However, the deliverance did not take away any of the poignancy. The team made note of how all of Hamlet’s changes could be explained and categorized by the stages and methods of grieving.

            As the rebuttals began, each team seemed to remain cool, and presented well though-out ideas. They involved hasty generalizations, various definitions of insanity and the topic of hallucinations.

            During the free for all, some of the audience members ganged up on debaters (ex: Mary Collins) and that resulted in some anger and frustration, but overall the debate members stuck to their arguments.

            Overall, the students found the debate less interesting than expected, but those who listened were given great insight into the question at hand. Seeing as such a wide array of viewpoints was presented the audience gathered a clear understanding of both possibilities, which allowed them to arrive at their own conclusions. Despite the expectations of the audience, all that was presented on Friday was a well-prepared debate.