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Re: Southeast Asian and redundancy

I still think it's silly.

Michael A. Krueger wrote:
 
> The argument went that Southeast Asian provided a descriptor that novices
> would understand easily.

I doubt very seriously that any individual would have trouble comprehending
the list of 10 countries by itself. And, should one become frightened and
prepare to flee your debate team, you could indeed assure them that those
countries are, in fact, in Southeast Asia and therefore they (the novices)
had no reason to flee. This matter of informing the novices yourself rather
than throwing extra words into the resolution should be adequate, considering
that most novices are likely to meet you before they meet the resolution.

> >From the APA Publication Manual (3rd edition):
> 
> Use a colon before a final phrase or clause that illustrates, extends, or
> amplifies preceding material (p. 53).
> 
> This is the purpose of the colon and the final phrase.

Indeed, and the use of the colon following 'one or more of the following 
countries:...' is acceptable. What the right honorable Dan and I are taking
exception with is the inclusion of the extra words before said colon. Those
extra words being 'Southeast Asian nations'. I shall now also quote from the
APA manual...

>From the APA Publication Manual (4th edition):

Redundancy. Writers often become redundant in an effort to be emphatic. Use
no more words than are necessary to convey your meaning. 


You may perceive that this has been one of the arguments raised against 
including the words 'Southeast Asian nations'. You may also perceive that I
am quoting the 4th edition and, therefore, post-date. Which obviously makes
my argument one edition better than your defense of the phrase. :)
 
> While novices are not stupid, they can be overwhelmed...  This is a
> compromise among the committee members.

There is no data and, as of yet, no compelling reason given as to why
the extra words would make novices feel better. In my infinite wisdom I
showed one of the sample resolutions to two high school debaters I know and
they agreed the wording was redundant. Moreover, they also indicated that
deleting the phrase 'Southeast Asian nations' would not cause them any degree
of stress nor inspire a fight or flight reaction from them.


Joey Boyle
Fort Hays State University
References:
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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