Question

In thanksgiving: a personal history, what clues can you use to determine the meaning of deconstructing in the sentence, “it only gets worse when you begin deconstructing the purpose of such holidays”? Consider both your knowledge of roots and prefixes and the content.

Answer 1

Answer and explanation:

First, let's make sure we understand what prefixes and root words are. Prefixes are letters or groups of letters that are added to the beginning of words with the purpose of creating a new word from it. Root words are the ones that can be used as the basis to create a new word through the addition of a prefix or a suffix.

Thus, we can move on to the word "deconstruct". The basis, the root word, is "construct". It has its origin in Latin and means building, combining elements, arranging, or even setting things in a logical order. The prefix is "de-". It is used with loanwords from Latin and indicates negation, reversal, removal, separation, or privation. The prefix "de-" negates or reverses the meaning of "construct". Therefore, "deconstruct" means breaking something down to its original constituent parts (usually with the purpose of analyzing those parts).

Answer 2

Notice the prefix "De" and the root word "constructing" in this word. These two words put together means to break apart something to learn more. In your case, this means to break apart the purpose of this holiday so you can understand the true meaning of it. Do you understand?