Chip Sullivan and Derrida

     C.S. Sullivan (Chip) taught one of my favorite classes at Hollins, the History and Criticism of Children’s Literature. In addition to studying the history of kidlit, we studied theory. Chip put the various theories in a hat, and the one we selected would be our oral presentation and final paper. I grabbed Deconstruction, which led me down the Derrida rabbit hole.

     I chose Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, and using Derrida’s strategies, I demonstrated how Miss Peregrine could be seen as a jailer rather than as a protector. This exercise showed me how word choice can add a layer of meaning to a story that makes a reader wonder about a character in a significant way.