Debating Guidelines--READ ME--Updated 12/27

[[Ernie]]

Welcome to the Debating Guidelines thread. Thank you for obeying the announcement and reading this thing.

POST HERE WHEN YOU HAVE READ THIS THROUGH.

Sorry about the confusion guys. I could've sworn I specified where to post, but alas I was being stupid. Gomen nasai u_u

This is so I know who has and who hasn't read this announcement. We're a pretty small guild, so it won't be too hard to keep a checklist.

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Post 01: Navigation
Post 02: Rules
Post 03: Glossary
Post 04: How To's
Post 05: Helpful Links
Post 06: Updates <--- Check this!
Post 07: Reserved
Post 08: Reserved
Post 09: Reserved
Post 10: Reserved
Post 11: Reserved
Post 12: Reserved
Post 13: Reserved
Post 14: Reserved
Post 15: Reserved  

[[Ernie]]

Follow these rules in the debate threads. Games and the Chatterbox thread don't count as debate threads, and so these rules don't apply. Each rule will have an explanation of itself beneath it.

Back up your statements

If you say, "Snape is a nargle", you have to include evidence from the book or an interview with JKR to back you up. You can't just fling statements around without anything to support your argument. CITE YOUR SOURCES (later explained in the How To post).

No put-downs or ad-homs

Ernie knows this one quite well from her early days of debating xd Not only does insulting your opponents make you (and your argument) look bad, it's pointless. C'mon guys, this is Harry Potter. You don't have to get so worked up as to call people names.

Page breaks are your friends

As many of you may know, large hunks of text do not look appealing to read. They are also hard to follow, since everything is all crammed together. Please put in some breaks every once in a while. You don't have to put spaces after every sentence, but every paragraph or so would be nice.

Deal with seperating posts

Don't throw a hissy fit when someone takes your post apart. It's common practice in debating, and if you don't like it, deal.

Defend your arguement

This is a debate guild, people, in case you couldn't tell. If you post your opinion in the debate threads, it means people are going to try and refute it. Be ready to stick around, defend your points, and don't whine, "It's just my opinion!" when someone refutes your post. Because this is a DEBATE guild. That's what we are SUPPOSED to do.

Don't quote long posts

If someone makes a long post, and you wish to only address one sentence/paragraph/section, delete the rest and quote that sentence/paragraph/section. Also, don't quote the whole post of someone who took a post apart section by section.  

[[Ernie]]

ad hominem - Taking something about the arguer and using that to try to prove his/her argument is void or false. More on Ad Hominem*

argument - A compilation of statements supported with facts in order to sway someone or prove a point. Merriam-Webster Definition of Argument

burden of proof - You said it, you prove it. If you make a statement, the burden of proof is on you to prove it, not for someone else to disprove it. More on Burden of Proof

fallacy - a bad argument. More on Fallacies; List of Fallacies

logical fallacy - an [bad] argument with no deductive reasoning or logic behind it. More on Logical Fallacies

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc - "it happened after so it was caused by"--confusion of cause and effect.*

If you have suggestions, please post them 3nodding

* Thanks, My Conscience! heart  

[[Ernie]]

How to...Quote someone

I know several members of this guild already know how to do this, but for those who don't, here's how to tear apart someone's post.

First off, you need to use the quote button in a debate, to show what and who you are addressing. This isn't something you must do 24/7, but it really helps when there are many points made and many people involved in a debate.

So, you may see people doing this:

Example

Quote:

Snape is so obviously a nargle:

[img.]http://www.imagehost.net/username/imagename.png[/img]

That is not a picture of Snape. Snape has silver skin and green hair. That picture depicts a My Little Pony.

Quote:

Also, here it is in JKR's interview with McGruff the Safety Dog:

http://www.mcgruff.org/interview/jkr

Biased site. McGruff the Safety Dog is certainly going to say that JKR said that, because McGruff is pro-nargle rights.

"But Ernie-sensei, how does one do this great art of tearing apart someone's post?"

[Can you tell I'm having fun with this? xd ]

1. Find the section(s) of the post you wish to address. Click at the end of the section and press enter a couple times. This is to give you room to type in your reply and to seperate the sections.

* If there is a sentence or section that you do not want to address, simply delete it.

2. At the begginning of the section you want to quote, put in the "quote" tags. You may or may not type in their username, although ensure that you do this at least once so that they know who you are addressing.

[quote][/quote]

[quote="Username"][/quote]

Top: Normal quote tags.

Bottom: Quote tags with the username of whomever you are replying to. You must put in the '=""' for it to work.

3. Type your reply between the quoted sections.

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How to...Post a URL

Suggested by Acidic Cynic. Thanks! <3

As shown in many of my posts in this guide, you can put a phrase/word/something that links to a URL. Usually, they look like this, but I have found out how to make them pretty colors. I'll show you how to do that later. First, how to link the phrase/word.

1. Copy the url. Most of the time, it would look like this when posted without code:

http://tinypic.com/ejepuh.gif

2. Type up:

[url=]

3. Paste the url where " is.

4. After the end bracket of the "" area, type in whatever you would like the link to say.

5. After the phrase/word, type:

[/url]

So, the result would be:

[url=][/url]

Example:

[url=http://tinypic.com/ejepuh.gif]LOL MURDER Emoticon[/url]

As for making the text a different color...

1. Type up the url code and everything.

2. Put color tags before and after the phrase:

[url=][color=][/color][/url]

Example:

[url=http://tinypic.com/ejepuh.gif][color=red]LOL MURDER Emoticon[/color][/url]

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How to...Cite your sources

Thanks to KTweirdchick for the suggestion! <3

In the Rules post, it was declared that you must cite your sources for your statements. Here's how to do that:

What to include if you're quoting a book:

If you have typed up an excerpt from a book,

Quote:

Edition - Country (ex: American, British, Brazilian, etc), Cover (Hardcover or paperback)
Abbreviated Title of Book - Only applies if the book is an HP book (ex: Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone). Only use the subtitle, please (ex: Philosopher's Stone would be "PS"). If the book isn't an HP book (Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), then use the full title.
Page Number - Pretty self-explanatory.

Be sure to identify your source somewhere near the information you've given, preferably in the quote title (see How To Quote Someone above), unless the book you are using has a long title (Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, etc). If that is the case, then it would be suggested that you simply state before or after you give the information where you got said infromation using the above guide.

What to include if you're quoting an interview:

Quote:

Interviewer: What person and what magazine/newspaper/website/newsgroup/whatever was conducting the interview.
Interviewee: Who was being interviewed.
Date: The date of the interview--does not have to be exact, month and year will do.
Source: Where you found this interview. If it was on a website, please link to the whole transcript. If it was from magazine/newspaper, simply tell the title of the magazine/newspaper and which issue/edition it was in.

Again, please identify your source near the information you've given.

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Questions? Suggestions? POST THEM.  

[[Ernie]]

The Harry Potter Lexicon

Debating Terms

If you have any, post away! This section could use some work. sweatdrop  

[[Ernie]]

12/27/05 - Thread revamped again; Guide to citing sources added to How To's
10/29/05 - Added something to the "How To's" Post
10/27/05 - Added some new terms to the Glossary
10/26/05 - Thread revamped
10/24/05 - Thread opened  

[[Ernie]]

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