Basic premise: the characters are in a lifeboat, adrift at sea. There is not enough room and food for everyone. One of the passengers must be thrown overboard if the others are to survive. Students are assigned recognizable characters, living or dead. Characters should be assigned randomly, regardless of gender. This is an individual event. Each participant gets an individual score.

The organization of the event is quite simple. Students have 5 minutes in which to explain why they are worthy of staying in the boat.

These "constructive" speeches are followed by a 3-minute rebuttal for each debater. The purpose of the rebuttal is to target another "character" and explain why that person should go overboard.

The order of speeches should be repeated.

There are no points of order or personal privilege! If you have been misquoted, raise the issue during your rebuttal.

A vote will be taken to decide which character goes overboard.

Students should be penalized for rude behavior or language. General ethics of debating apply.

Please note: Characters may be deceased. Students should argue their case as if the character were still alive. In other words, if you are Winston Churchill, you can't argue that you should be allowed to stay on the boat because you are dead and therefore won't need to eat any of the provisions. Students are to argue the impact and influence that their character had on the course of history.

Same idea, but the premise is that everyone is on an airplane that is crashing. There is only one parachute on board and each character must argue for possession.