Deconstructionist Rhetoric in Blood and Guts in Highschool by Kathy Acker

Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker has historically been disregarded as a man-eating hodge podge of media. My project investigates why that isn't true. To the untrained eye, "Blood and Guts" may be tactless and perhaps effortless, however, a rhetorical analysis of the text exposes Acker's intention with the novel and examines her methodology. The novel centers around Janey, a Mexican pre-teen who endures a "breakup" with the allusive Johnny - her "father-sibling-bank-boyfriend". She undergoes a life of abuse, violence, and illness. My close-reading pays special attention to Acker's use of Dysphemism and Euphemism in order to showcase how the patriarchy's abuse of and unfair expectations of sex cause girls to objectify themselves and lose meaning in their own lives. The framework for this essay is deconstruction, which suggests that pieces of a text do not function as one cohesive unit, but as separate parts all serving a purpose. A deep understanding of deconstruction leads to the noticing of tension and applied force in Acker's novel. A physical application thereof is exemplified through the elementary STEM project - the Zoom Ball. By juxtaposing Dysphemism and Euphemism, Acker ultimately uses a metaphorical Zoom Ball in order to propel her argument forward. My strategy for close reading the text is rhetoric analysis as I analyze Acker's effective use of the aforementioned literary tools.