Dracula Literature Circle

Dracula Literature Circle

Hello everyone! Welcome to Dracula Literary Group! I am so pleased that you will be joining us on this reading adventure! We meet Friday from 7:30-8:30 pm (Kyiv time). Dracula was written by Bram Stoker and published in 1897. Many themes and topics in the novel remain relevant today. There are several options for reading: the original and the graded (simplified/easier) versions. We will read three chapters a week for nine weeks.

More information about your facilitator Laura: https://auroraenglish.wixsite.com/english

Original text (B2/C1 Upper Int/Adv): https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345

Chapter summaries (If you want support with reading the novel or don't have time to read the chapter): https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dracula/summary/

Audio book (Original version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkxNUv4HvrE

Google Meet (To join online): meet.google.com/tmb-evpu-czx

Week One: Friday, September 18: 7:30 pm

Introductions, Setting and Chapters 1-3 (We will not answer all of the questions. The questions are designed to guide and support your reading).

1) Introduce ourselves and the literature we enjoy.

2) What is the geographical, historical and physical setting of the novel? You can do some research online.

3) What do you know about the author, Bram Stoker?

4) What do you know about the Victorian era and Victorian literature?

5) What do you know about Gothic literature?

6) What do you know about vampires?

Chapters 1-3

1) Do you know any of the places Stoker describes in Chapter 1: Bistritz, Bukovina, the Borgo Pass, the Carpathians, Transylvania? Are the descriptions accurate? The history? Why/why not? Where does Stoker's fictionalization enter the story?

2) Describe the first protagonist, Jonathan Harker. Think about STEAL: Says, Thinks, Effect on Others, Actions and Looks. Do you think he is a reliable narrator?

3) Summarize Harker's journey to Dracula's castle.

4) Describe Dracula. Think about STEAL: Says, Thinks, Effect on Others, Actions and Looks.

5) How does Stoker use foreshadowing to draw the reader in and convince the reader of Dracula's sinister nature and the dangers Jonathan Harker faces? Give examples.

6) How is social class presented in the novel? Do a close reading of both Harker and Dracula's attitudes and actions.

7) Describe Dracula's castle. Contrast the different areas: Harker's quarters, Dracula's quarters and the area where the three female vampires live. What is ironic about where the three female vampires live?

Week Two: Friday, September 25: 7:30 pm: Chapters 4-6

1) The novel is told in an epistolary style. What are the strengths and limitations of this format?

2) What are some superstitions presented in the novel? Are any of these similar in Ukraine? What are some common superstitions in Ukraine?

3) Describe Mina Murray. Think about STEAL: Says, Thinks, Effect on Others, Actions and Looks. Do you think her character (A Victorian woman) is reliably/accurately portrayed by Stoker? Why/why not?

4) Describe Lucy Westenra. Think about STEAL: Says, Thinks, Effect on Others, Actions and Looks. Do you think her character (A Victorian woman) is reliably/accurately portrayed by Stoker? Why/why not?

5) Two other characters are introduced: Dr Seward and Arthur Holmwood. What do we learn about them?

6) How are readers further made aware of Dracula’s evil intentions and identity as a vampire?

7) Literature reflects the anxieties and aspirations of the era in which is is written. What do you think Dracula represents? Think about Victorian society.

8) What do we learn about the role of women through Mina’s and Lucy’s letters? What has changed?

9) What do you think of Stoker’s portrayal of the American, Quincy P. Morris (Lucy to Mina: May 24)?

10) What are the most interesting parts of Chapters 4-6? Why? Support your response with evidence from the text.

11) Did Stoker use any vocabulary that you liked/learned in these chapters? Share a few of the words with us.

Week Three: Friday, October 2: 7:30 pm: Chapters 7-9

1) Psychiatry, psychology, and also, troublingly, pseudo-science such as phrenology and eugenics, are emerging in the Victorian era. How do Dr Seward and Dr Van Hesling represent Victorian doctors?

2) What are features of Gothic and/or Victorian lit? How used/not used by Stoker?

3) Summarize the voyage of The Demeter as reported in ‘The Daily Telegraph’ on August 8. What jumps off the ship?

4) Contrast the news report of the Demeter in ‘The Daily Telegraph’ on August 8 and today’s news reports. How are they similar or different? What type of publication do you think ’The Daily Telegraph’ is?

5) Who does Mina receive a letter from on August 12? What happens? What promise does Mina make to Jonathan?

6) Describe Lucy’s declining health in Chapters 7-9.

7) Describe Renfield’s actions and behaviour. Psychiatry was emerging as a field. Contrast the treatments of Victorian patients and patients nowadays.

8) Captivity and confinement are common features of Gothic literature. Contrast the confinements of Jonathan, Lucy and Renfield.

9) What are the most interesting parts of Chapters 7-9? Why? Support your response with evidence from the text.

10) Literature is a reflection of social aspirations and anxieties. What are the key themes of the novel? Why were they relevant in the Victorian era? Are any of the themes in the novel relevant today? Why?

Week Four: Friday, October 9: 7:30 pm: Chapters 10-12 *time change to 6:50 pm.

1) Lucy continues to receive blood transfusions from the men. What could this symbolise?

2) How are men and women portrayed differently in the novel? What does this say about Victorian values and culture? How would this appeal to a Victorian reader? Use evidence from the text.

3) Contrast the black velvet ribbon around Lucy’s neck with the blue ribbon from Mina’s neck that she uses to seal Jonathan’s diary.

4) What do you think of the novel’s plot? Believable/Convincing? Unbelievable/not convincing?

5) Stoker worked at the Lyceum Theatre in London for several decades. How do you think the stage (screenplays, acting, dialogues and audiences) affected Dracula? Give examples.

6) Why do you think Stoker chose to have Dracula assume the form of a bat? What does the bat symbolise?

7) Why do you think Stoker chose to have Dracula assume the form of a wolf? What does the wolf symbolise?

8) Why do you think Stoker uses the phosphorescent forms to represent the vampires? What does this symbolise?

9) What is happening to Lucy throughout Chapter 12? How do you know?

10) What happens to Jonathan and Mina by the end of Chapter 12?

11) What is ironic about Mina’s unopened letters to Lucy? Why does Stoker choose to include this? (155)

12) Who is dead by the end of Chapter 12?

13) What are the most interesting parts of Chapters 10-12? Why? Support your response with evidence from the text.

Week Five: Friday, October 16: 7:30 pm: Chapters 13-15

1) What do you know about vampires? How do vampires vary by culture? Describe Stoker’s vampires. How does Lucy become a vampire? Give details.

2) Mina worries about the propriety of Jonathan’s arm on hers in central London (Mina Harker, September 22). What do you know about etiquette/decorum in Victorian Britain? How have attitudes to etiquette changed over the years? What are some examples of proper etiquette in the nineteenth-century Ukraine? Did etiquette vary by social class? Contemporary Ukraine? What are the biggest changes? Do a close reading of “the pedantry of it biting into you a bit (171).

3) Have you been to London? What do you think about Stoker’s description? Who do Jonathan and Mina see in London?

4) Describe Lucy’s funeral (Dr Seward, September 22). Are there special funeral rites in Ukraine?

5) Describe the Bloofer Lady (Westminster Gazette, September 25). Who is it? What are popular folktales in Ukraine about dangerous women/men?

6) Stoker alludes to Methuselah (Dr Seward, September 26, p. 190)? Who is this? Lived 969 years. Biblical patriarch. Where does the story originate? Analyse and evaluate Dr Seward’s argument. How is this problematic by today’s standards?

7) Describe the events on the churchyard and cemetery in Chapter 15. How does Stoker use these physical settings to create mood?

8) How does Lucy differ from other vampires (Dr Seward, September 27, p. 199)?

9) We continue to learn more about the characters. Do a character analysis of a character. Think about STEAL: Says, Thinks, Effect on Others, Actions and Looks.

10) How does Chapter 15 end?

11) Literature is a reflection of social aspirations and anxieties. Are any of the themes in the novel relevant today? Why?