Gifted tongues : high school debate and adolescent culture / Gary Alan Fine.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fine, Gary Alan.

Series:

Princeton studies in cultural sociology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Debates and debating.

Physical Description:

xi, 301 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2001]

Summary:

Learning to argue and persuade in a highly competitive environment is only one aspect of life on a high-school debate team. Teenage debaters also participate in a distinct cultural world -- complete with its own jargon and status system -- in which they must negotiate complicated relationships with teammates, competitors, coaches, and parents as well as classmates outside the debating circuit. In Gifted Tongues, Gary Alan Fine offers a rich description of this world as a testing ground for both intellectual and emotional development, while seeking to understand adolescents as social actors. Considering the benefits and drawbacks of the debating experience, he also recommends ways of reshaping programs so that more high schools can use them to boost academic performance and foster specific skills in citizenship.

Contents:

1 Learning to Talk 19

2 Rites of Arguments 38

3 Evidence and the Creation of Truth 67

4 In the Round 97

5 Our Team 133

6 Debate Culture 162

7 Teachers and Coaches 190

8 Gifted Leisure and the Politics of Debate 217

9 Debate and the Adolescent Toolkit 241

Appendix Communities of Debate 252.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [271]-295) and index.

ISBN:

0691074496

069107450X

OCLC:

45066311