Grading Criteria | Course Expectations | Course Materials | Schedule | Syllabus
Tournament Policies | Tournament Sign Up | Honors Credit Criteria

Forensics offers several co-curricular courses for students with an interest in developing their skills in public speaking and argumentation, speech writing, and advanced research. The Introduction to Forensics course will provide instruction in various forms of debate and public speaking activities, especially those that are offered in competitive forensics tournaments. These speaking forms include Policy and Lincoln-Douglas debate, Student Congress, extemporaneous speaking, expository speaking, oratory, and dramatic, humorous interpretive reading. The course will also cover the characteristics and roles of different types of reasoning that are utilized in oral argumentation, including deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, inference, and metaphor. Advanced Policy Debate, Advanced Lincoln-Douglas, and Advanced Individual Events courses allow students to specialize in particular activities.

Course Objectives:

1. To train students in the organization of materials and the oral and physical aspects of delivery in various speaking situations. Intended to give the beginning student an understanding of and practice in the art of communicative speaking.

2. To learn and utilize techniques for effectively developing and delivering speeches appropriate for competition in area forensics tournaments. These public speaking styles will include extemporaneous speaking, expository speaking, oratory, and dramatic, humorous, and poetic interpretation.

3. To develop and utilize library and on-line research skills necessary to the preparation for in class and tournament debates and other public speaking activities. To develop an appreciation for issues related to "the ethics of advocacy" and "proper source material attribution," and to utilize proper research, advocacy, and attribution techniques in all in-class and tournament presentations.

The courses offered through the Forensics Department include Forensics I: Intro. Speech and Debate, Honors Forensics II-IV: Intermediate and Advanced – Policy, Lincoln –Douglas, Congress, Turner, and Individual Events.

Last Updated Wednesday, February 28, 2007 @ 10:56 AM PST