Week 6 - Deconstruction

I feel like I was being quoted on page 111-112.  I am the girl that was taught about deconstruction and cried and felt cheated and wished nobody had taught me that.  I can remember today the first time that I learned about Deconstruction.  I was in college and I was one of the youngest kids in class.  Everyone else had done the reading and the work and I knew that they had learned the same thing, but nobody was saying anything.  I wanted to say something but didn't cuz I didn't want to be 'that girl.'  Finally, at the end of class they started discussing how depressing this theory was and how it made everything seem so useless and meaningless.  I was relieved that I was not the only one that had felt this way.

I don't want to teach this theory to my students.  I don't want to give them that terrible feeling.  It took me years, seriously years, to get over this theory.  Actually, this blog reveals that I'm still not quite over it.  I spent so much time learning to look for meaning in literature and life.  For one theory alone to throw all of that away was devastating.  I don't want my students to experience that.  Some of my students may go to college, but the reality is that most won't.  The ones that do go to college will most likely experience deconstruction of some sort when they get there.  The ones that don't do to college, can they live without never knowing deconstruction, I think so.

I really want to teach literary theory next year with my highest level class.  Can I teach the other theories and skip deconstruction?  At least until I'm comfortable teaching theory?  Am I taking too much away from theory if I just skip one?  Is it unfair to teach only what I am comfortable?  Would this be too censored or biased if I forget to teach the one that makes me upset?  What if I only mention it briefly and place a lot more focus on the ones that I like and think are helpful more than hurtful?