For Thursday: Dracula, The Final Chapters (25-27)!

 

Children and their "child brains" (painting by John Singer Sargent)

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: In Chapter 26, Mina remarks, “…it made me think of the wonderful power of money! What can it not do when it is properly applied; and what might it do when basely used.” In these final chapters of the novel, how does money become a key element of the text? How do the vampire hunters use money to foil Dracula’s plans? And how is he, too, consistently associated with money?

Q2: How does Van Helsing develop his theories about Dracula’s “child brain” and his “childish” character? How might this tie into the then-emerging field of criminal psychology, as a way to reduce him to a safer ‘type’ rather than an undead, immortal monster? Consider his speech in Chapter 25 especially.

Q3: In Chapter 23, Mina urges her husband that killing Dracula, however necessary, should not be “a work of hate.” She feels that even Dracula deserves their pity, all the more since his curse is the work of centuries and knows no end. Does the novel ultimately affirm her belief? Can even Dracula be granted redemption? And if so, what might this suggest about Stoker’s ideas of good and evil in the book, which initially seem to black and white?

Q4: For the first time in the book, Van Helsing is allowed to tell the story in a series of Memorandums to Mina’s Journal. Why do you think Stoker replaces Van Helsing with Seward (who begins writing less and less)?

Q5: In Chapter 26, Dr. Van Helsing admits that “Our dear Madam Mina is once more our teacher. Her eyes have seen where we were blinded.” Does the novel end with a sense of a feminine vision (or authority) carrying the day? Or is she yet again dismissed as one with a “man’s brain,” and a “woman’s heart”?

Final Presentation Assignments: Options 1 and 2

Intro to Lit Studies/Teaching Lit Final Project: Theories of Identity

OPTION 1 (Teaching): Make a visual presentation (using Powerpoint, Prezi, etc.) that uses art to interpret at least 4 of the main characters of Dracula, choosing from Dracula, Johnathan, Mina, Lucy, Seward, Van Helsing, Arthur, Quincy, and Renfield. You should find a work of art (a painting, photograph, historical image, advertisement, etc.) that you can use to visually represent some aspect of the character’s identity and role in the book. Each artwork should be accompanied by a specific passage from the book about that character; you should briefly close read the passage so we can understand how you interpreted the character through your art.

You should also include a Preface to the presentation with a quote from Culler that you feel somehow introduces or analyzes some aspect of your presentation, and briefly explain this connection as well. Give each artwork and passage/quotation its own slide, and then provide your close reading/commentary on another one. So you should have roughly 14 or so slides, though feel free to do more. For example, one slide should be a work of art, then the next slide should be part of the passage that goes along with the character, and then a third slide should be your reading of the passage. And so on. The presentation doesn’t need to be fancy (look how simple mine are), but it should clearly show how the artwork and the passage illustrate some aspect of the character in question.

Try to have FUN with this, since this could be a way to help your students grasp the themes and ideas associated with each character visually. A good amount of your time on this project should be finding just the right images, so be sure you know why you chose them, and be able to explain these connections through the text. I will grade this solely by (a) how well I feel the images help us see the character; (b) how thoughtfully you choose passages that complement the artwork; and (c) how well you can provide brief, focused close readings that explain your theory of the text.

DUE NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12^th

Intro to Lit Studies/Teaching Lit Final Project: Theories of Narration

OPTION 2 (Lit Studies): You have been hired to write a YA adaptation of Dracula using only ONE of the narrators in the book (Johnathan, Mina, or Seward). Explain which one you would choose and why: what does their perspective allow us to see, and not see, about the unfolding drama of the book? What are the advantages and disadvantages, and why might it make the book more exciting—and maybe, more unreliable—by removing so many of the voices and levels of narration? Use at least ONE passage from Culler to help you discuss this (especially ideas from Chapters 6 “Narration” and 8 “Identity”). Use this as your ‘introduction’, and it can be as long as you like, but try to go beyond a short paragraph.

Then, discuss at least 2-3 entries or letters that you would definitely include in your novel, even though you would re-write them. What is significant about these letters or entries in revealing the character or the story? What do we see or learn in each one? How does each one reveal the character’s strength and limitations? Fears and biases? Insight and ignorance?  Be sure to quote from and close read your passages. As in the Intro, use Culler to aid in your discussion. Also feel free to use any secondary sources about Dracula (articles on EBSCO, websites, other adaptations) to aid your discussion. I will share a few sources on our blog in case you’re interested.

NOTE: You can do this assignment as a traditional paper OR a presentation. If doing a paper, length is optional, but make sure it’s long enough to explain your choice and to provide some useful close readings of the passages in question. If doing a presentation, be sure to give the passages room to breathe. Make passages on one slide, and your reading of the passages on another. Feel free to use images to aid your discussion as well (though it’s not a requirement as in the Teaching assignment).

DUE NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12^th

For Tuesday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 20-24

Burne-Jones, The Baleful Head (as seen in class on Thursday) 

Keep reading for next week, and get at least somewhere around Chapter 24. No questions, but we'll have an in-class writing focused around one of the issue below most likely...

Things to Consider:

* Stoker suggests a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde relationship between Seward and Renfield in the early chapters of the book. How do these chapters complicate this relationship, and make us wonder who the real "Hyde" (madman) truly is? 

* What makes the scene in Chapter 21 where Dracula is assaulting Mina so disturbing? How might this compare with the famous 'Thor' scene of Arthur killing Lucy? 

* Why does Mina lament that she is now "unclean" after the attack? Do other people seem to agree with her? Especially Seward?

* How does Seward's narration become increasingly unrelaible in these chapters? How does Stoker reveal this to the reader (as if he we didn't already know)?

* Note how the vampire hunter keep making distinctions between adults/men and women/children in the book. Lucy and Mina are "little girls," and even Dracula, for all his might, is said to have a "child brain," and is initially described somewhat effiminately. How does this play into the sexist and racist ideals of Victorian England? 

* Many critics have pointed out that Dracula is also a critique of capitalism itself. How does Dracula employ the engines of capital and commerce the same was he commands the wolves and the rats? You might also look at the curious passage where Dracula is attacked with Harker's kukri knife...

For Thursday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 15-19 (or so)

Munch, The Storm (1893)

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Why do you think Stoker settled on two main narrators for the novel: Dr. Seward and Mina (though Johnathan sometimes sneaks in, too)? Why might Seward and Mina be subtly opposed to one another, at least in their perspectives and narrative techniques? What is each one allowed to see, and what might be the limitations of each perspective?

Q2: While there is a definite theme of English vs. “Oriental” (that is, of the world beyond the British Empire), many readers also read this book as also Christian vs. Pagan, or science vs. superstition. What makes these readings increasingly complicated as the book goes on? And why might Stoker resist offering us such an easy, good vs. evil (or old vs. new) interpretation? You might also remember that even Dr. Seward describes Arthur slaying Un-Dead Lucy as looking “like a figure of Thor.”

Q3: Dracula is an extremely self-aware novel; that is, it is a gothic novel about writing a gothic novel. Stoker explicitly shows Mina “making” the book throughout, and even Arthur, examining all of her transcriptions, adds, “it does make a pretty good pile...Did you write all this, Mrs. Harker?” Why do you think Stoker calls our attention to the writing of the novel? What might be the advantage of this approach?

Q4: At one point, Van Helsing tells Mina, “We are men, and are able to bear; but you must be our star and our hope, and we shall act all the more free that you are not in the danger, such as we are” (225). Do you think Stoker intends this to be a misogynistic novel, one that puts “New Women” in their place? Or is this another example of the shortsightedness (and ineffectiveness) of the masculine ideal? In other words, are Stoker’s own limitations as a storyteller coming out in the narrative? Or is this Seward and Co.’s limitations?

For Tuesday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 10-14

Edvard Munch, Vampire (1893)

Answer TWO of the following as always:  

Q1: Who do you think is the least reliable narrator in the book so far? What makes his or her narration seem suspect? Do you detect passages where he/she seems to be hiding information or not being quite straight with the reader, even if he/she is writing a diary entry?

Q2: Just as Dracula seems like he's emerged from the distant past, how is Van Helsing also uncanny and "primitive" compared to the genteel society of London? What makes his person and his approach somewhat taboo, and certainly shocks Arthur and the others? Why is this also in turn a bit humorous? Consider the passage where he says, "Yes, and no. I want to operate, but not as you think...I want to cut off her head and take out her heart" (Ch.13). 

Q3. In Chapter 13, from Dr. Seward’s Diary, Van Helsing takes him aside and says, “Friend John, there are strange and terrible days before us. Let us not be two, but one, that so we work to a good end. Will you not have faith in me?" What do you make of the male relationships in the novel? Do they reinforce a “homosocial” order (that is, a world of men, for men, by men), or are these relationships critiqued from an almost feminist perspective?

Q4: What might be most distrubing about Lucy's transformation given the Victorian ideal of womanhood and chastity? Naturally, she becomes a vampire, which is bad enough, but how does Stoker describe her new appearance/character in ways that would be particularly disturbing? 

Q5: Why might Mina be the true hero in this book, and why might her journey echo what we've seen with Coraline and Bilbo in our previous books? What makes her an "unwilling burglar" or an "uncertain explorer"? Related to this, is she a Mary Sue or does she also have to learn through stumbling? 

For Thursday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 5-9

Try to get at least to Chapter 9 for Thursday's class, even though we won't have any questions to respond to. When you come to class, we'll have an in-class response so we can all respond to a big idea in these pages. Here are some ideas to consider as you read, however, one of which might make  an appearance on Thursday.

SOME IDEAS TO CONSIDER...

Which of the “outside” stories (the log from the Varna, etc.) adds the most to the overall narrative? Why do you think Mina decided to add this into her journal? What ‘story’ is it helping her tell to her readers? (and how might we read this differently when we remember that she is the one arranging it)?

What might be the significance of Dr. Seward's study of Renfield? What is he trying to understand about his patient's strange behavior? And who is Stoker really studying here: Renfield or Seward himself?

What is unique about Mina as the heroine of this book? In most books of this time, she would merely be Johnathan Harker's wife, but Stoker makes her a character in her own right. Why might she have shocked or at least surprised some readers in 1897?

How does Dracula seem to be a profoundly intertextual novel? Did you catch any references to other works, characters, or traditions? In many ways, Stoker is writing a horror novel while being very conscious--and obvious--about all of his predecesors, kind of like how Stranger Things makes reference to the horror movies that inspired it. 

How does Lucy change throughout these chapters as she is slowly seduced by Dracula? Why might this relate somewhat to what was happening to Johnathan in Castle Dracula? 

For Tuesday: Stoker, Dracula, Chapters 1-4

 

NOTE: Read the first four chapters (Johnathan Harker's Diary) for class on Tuesday. and give yourself time to get into the narrative structure of the novel. It's not as difficult or dry as it might initially appear, and this technique has been wildly influential on every gothic/horror novel to follow). 

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Last week we discussed theories of identity and constructions of the 'subject.' How do the characters of either Johnathan Harker or Dracula address some of these issues in their 'performance' of identity? Consider the following quotes as you respond:

* Harker: "I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips. It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth" (43).

* Dracula: "Here I am noble; I am boyar; the common people know me, and I am master. But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men know him not--and to know not is to care not for" (25).

Q2: In many ways, these first chapters are just a typical first-person narration from Harker's perspective. Yet Stoker puts a slight twist on this since it's actually from his diary, which is later read by his fiancee, Mina Murray. How does the act of writing somewhat change how we experience his story, considering that it is broken up by dates and an overwhelming sense of time passing? Why might Stoker have chosen to do this rather than simply having Harker narrate the opening chapters? (Chapter 5, for example, begins with a series of letters between Mina and her best friend, Lucy). 

Q3: When Harker first beholds the three 'brides' of Dracula, he remarks, "I seemed somehow to know her face, and to know it in connection with some dreamy fear, but I could not recollect at the moment how or where" (Ch.III/61). How might passages like this remind us of Coraline, and indeed, how might Harker’s adventures in Castle Dracula be a lot like Coraline’s adventures with the Other Mother?

Q4: How does Stoker's characterization of Dracula differ from modern versions of Dracula and of vampires in general? Though Dracula is not the first literary vampire, he created the prototypical mythology that all subsequent vampires follow. Nevertheless, Stoker's 'Dracula' shows some remarkable differences that often surprise or even disappoint readers. What might these be...and what might Stoker's intentions have been in writing him this way