Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) is one of the most influential minds on modern, deconstructionist society. But, what does that even mean?

For Derrida, binaries dominate human thought and language. These binaries are useful, but often force nonbinary reality into an "either-or" set of conflicting, ideological terms. Much like Lacan, Derrida emphasized the inability of language to adequately express reality. However, he narrowed his inquiries to focused specifically on how ideologies and beliefs create binaries that often mold reality into a limited version of itself.

For deconstruction, I've narrowed it into these 4 steps: (1) identify a dominant binary, (2) identify the characteristics of each side of the binary, (3) explain how the characteristics of each side actually exist in the opposing side, and (4) explain how the binary is insufficient; what is the reality?

These steps are actually simple in application, even if Derrida's ideas are not, and are incredibly useful for dissecting literature (like Macbeth) that is dominated by binaries. These steps also help with your essay structure, as each step is essentially a paragraph.