Appleman Chapter 6

Deconstruction: Postmodern Theory and the Postmodern High School Student



Using the music video that is really popular amongst the students age group is an excellent way to introduce deconstruction. Deconstruction is hard to understand, and the way that I have come to understand it is by figuring out everything that it is not. Take a desk for example; A desk is a desk because it is not a chair or a face. This leads us to the idea of language and how language creates this. It is nearly impossible for me to comprehend a world without language. However, language is made up of words - they are just words. I'm confused... and I think that Appleman may be too. Deconstruction is very difficult to understand, and I would beg to differ when she "on a whole, the lens of deconstruction works well with high school students" (110). She did mention that her students took readily to the lens- this would be crucial for the classroom in order for a successful lesson to take place. She never tells us how she handled Rachel's plea. I like resisiting surface meanings through marxist and feminist theory. I think that deconstruction just needs more.