Blocking is the process of preparing such arguments in advance of a debate or during a debate. Burden of proof - the obligation of he or she who asserts to prove their points. The burden of the Aff. team to overcome the presumption for the status quo and so establish a prima facie case. Both sides have the burden of rejoinder meaning they must answer the relevant arguments of their opponents to keep the debate progressing. Causal link - analysis which relates a cause to an effect.
Debate is dependent on a great deal of causal analysis.
The affirmative must identify and remove the causes of a problem without creating significant new problems. Somewhere in the debate the Aff must link their problems to causes which they eliminate or mask and the Neg. Clash - consists of fundamental opposing arguments on the key issues. One of the most fundamental goals of the debate process is to promote good clash, the Aff and Neg taking opposite stances on key issues. Condusionary evidence - opinions given without reasons for the opinions.