Debate News Report

Shots fired

On Friday March 21, 2014 the second round of three debates took place in Mr. Murray’s grade 11 English class. The topic of the debate was whether or not the witches actually had an impact on Macbeth’s actions. Arguing on the negative side was Matthew Rossi, Brennen Beattie and Thomas Keith. Meanwhile arguing that the witches did indeed control Macbeth’s decisions, you could find Christina, Amy and James.

The debate followed the classic introduction, three argument rounds, free for all and finally a conclusion. The first round began with Christina, she was very well prepared and discussed how Macbeth was used as a puppet. Shots were fired once Christina drew a picture of Thomas Keith’s blog, where it was evident that he agreed with the apposing side. Thomas then stated his argument but was nervous and spoke very quiet. The affirmative side then had to rebuttal, they delivered a solid rebuttal and pointed out major flaws. Matt then strongly rebutted for the negative side and stated that Thomas was simply writing what Mr. Murray wanted to hear, not what his honest opinion was.

The second round then commenced as Amy had long, dragged out argument which took over 5 minutes therefore she was cut off. Brennen Beattie then introduced his argument that Macbeth had his own ambition to become king, and that he would have proceeded with the same actions regardless of the witches’ prophecy. Brennen paced himself through out his speech therefore making it easy to understand. Both rebuttals were evenly matched with numerous examples to back them up.

Then, the free for all horn was blown. Both teams screaming at each other, while the affirmative side whips out witch figures to mock the apposing side. Thomas then states, “What grade are we in? Kindergarten? Focus on the debate rather then making art projects!” The audience then got very involved, trying to project both sides but finally the closing horn was blown. The third round then began with James; he seemed extremely calm during his speech yet very firm. Matthew Rossi then began to talk about how the witches may have just been a myth in Macbeth’s head. Finally, following each side’s rebuttals and conclusions each side continued to throw insults and build upon their arguments.

The judges then left the room for a while to discuss their final results. Mr. Murray then talked to the class, explaining that the debate could go either way due to the fact each side had their strong and weak areas. After the judges finished deliberating, the came to a final decision that the negative side was the winner due to their timing for the arguments, strong rebuttals and valid arguments.  Overall, a well done effort by each side!