English 215?  Meet Not-English 215

            At this point in the syllabus, we have encountered the foundation of the course we are taking.  Paradoxically, according to current critical practice, English 215 also has to teach English majors how to deconstruct itself by challenging the discourse of liberal education.  Nevertheless, we continue to do this, secure in the knowledge that such activity is immensely time consuming and far more difficult than doing the week's assigned reading or writing the "Working With" paper.  Also, majors who undertake to deconstruct the hegemonic discourse of critical pluralism upon which this particular course is founded will face the daunting task of articulating a new discourse with which to replace it.  At that point, they will have to think pretty quickly to avoid finding themselves in the "professoriate" position, from which the discourse of liberal education starts all over again.