The Style Guide
Terms
- Proponents are individuals or groups who have publicly taken specific Positions on Questions.
- Questions are topics that have generated public discussion where certain key Positions have been arrived at.
- Positions are broad groupings of response to the Question, and are derived from Arguments.
- Arguments are a set of reasons supporting a Position.
- Premises are a formal logical reconstruction of the Argument.
Two Question Types
There are two types of Question on Parli, and each have their particular guidelines which you’ll find below:
1. IXY Questions:
Questions will most often take the format: “Is X Y?” or “Does X do Y?”
Examples might be: “Is a trade war beneficial to the US?”, “Is Serena Williams the greatest female tennis player of all time?”, “Does God exist?”
If in doubt, always frame your question as an IXY Question.
Read more about how to create an IXY question →
2. Maps:
The Map format looks to map the general positions or viewpoints around any given issue. Maps provide an overview of the broad groups of opinion on any given subject, and they answer the question: “What are the positions on…?”
Maps provide a way of grouping smaller IXY questions. For example: “Map: greatest ever footballers” provides a way of grouping smaller level IXY Questions like: “Is Messi the greatest ever footballer?”, “Is Pele the greatest ever footballer?”, etc… because the Map can cover them all.
Maps will always follow the format “Map: #MeToo”, “Map: implications of climate change”, “Map: causes of the Civil War”