PROMPT
In Dracula, what is Stoker revealing about the demonization of “others” in the Victorian age and how does this relate to treatment of “others” in this group today?
Primary issues/themes: Misogynistic attitudes of women— esp. In terms of female sexuality, gender stereotypes, and the concept of the New Woman vs. the traditional Victorian Woman
1. How did the tutor try to make the student feel comfortable? Be specific.
The student has already done sessions with Jennifer many times, so she is quite comfortable around her.
2. How did the tutor set up/focus on the session? Refer back to the “extraction phase.”
The student looked for quotes relevant to the ideas established in a previous session for the same essay, so Jennifer used this
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Jennifer asked the exploratory questions as review from the previous session; they were asked to refresh the student’s memory about the story. As for the guided questions, they were asked in order for the student to be able to form clear and concise topic sentences.
4. Provide examples of the tutor scaling down/up questions for the student. Why/how were these questions scaled down/up?
The line of questioning above is actually a perfect example of scaling up questions. The exploratory ones are to test the student’s basic knowledge (or memory) from the previous session. The guided questions were to help the student form a clear main idea for her body paragraphs. They were scaled up because once her memory was refreshed, she needed to form her topic sentences.
5. What do you think the student learned? How do you know?
I think the student learned how to analyze a reading clearly. With Dracula, the fact that she likes the book really helps with her analysis. She was able to recognize the difference between how Dracula was killed compared to how Lucy was killed.
6. What type of student was this (reflective types)? How do you know?
The student is a pre-reflective type because she needed to be constantly reminded of what she was writing. For example, the student described the “New Woman” as “misogynistic” rather than “monstrous.” Jennifer had to ask the student to define “misogynistic” in order to remind her that it wasn’t the word she was looking for.
Additionally,
Bram Stoker's Dracula is highly acclaimed and has received many different interpretations which deal with complex symbolisms and metaphors. These interpretations often require a great deal of knowledge in psychology, political science, anthropology, and other non-literary disciplines. These interpretations may be valid, as they are related to the disciplines on which their arguments are based, but the true power of the novel is due to a very simple theme that lies beneath the other, more convoluted interpretations. This theme is the universal concept of identity: us versus them. This criticism sets aside outside disciplines and focuses on the literary motif of identity. John
The class began with a silent reading assignment from the next section in the text. While students read, the teacher individually checked in with each student to provide feedback on the previous nights homework. The homework assignment was to summarized the reading from the previous day in their own words. The teacher provided both positive and constructive feedback to all students, pointing out at least one successful aspect of their summary. This activity is very much in line with was the strategy of upgrading your interactive language discussed by Eric Jensen, “during every sing interaction with your students, make eye contact and affirm the good in them” (Jenson, 2013, p.25). If a student was missing an integral part of the story she would prompt them by recalling what was discussed before and provide textual evidence if necessary, and allow them to add to their response. She was very upbeat and supportive of the students, and her tone and language were both accessible and age appropriate. When giving instructions she used
During the Victorian Era, women struggled to attain gender equality by challenging the traditional roles that defined them. These women no longer wanted to remain passive and obey the demands of their husbands nor be domestic and the caretakers of their children. They strived to attain the role of a 'New Woman', an intelligent, liberated individual who was able to openly express her ideas (Eltis 452). Whereas some women were successful in attaining this new role, others were still dominated by their male counterparts. The men felt threatened by the rising power of women and repressed them by not allowing them to work, giving them unnecessary medications, and diagnosing them with hysteria (Gilman
Because the Victorian Era was an age so heavily influenced by religion, it is hardly surprising, that Bram Stoker’s Dracula contains many religious references. The Victorian Era was a time period from 1837 to 1901, during which Queen Victoria reigned in the United Kingdom. During this time, women were expected to be quiet, proper, and pure. All people were expected to attend church, and sexuality was incredibly censored. Religion played an influencing role in Victorian art including visual and literary. Likewise, the fear of being sinful, or not following the Bible was still a fear from the under educated members of society. The prominent branches of Christianity in this era, Protestants and Catholics, dominated the popular culture of western societies. Given the religious context of the Victorian Era, Vampires in Bram Stoker’s Dracula represent sin and have inherently sinful behavior, whereas the humans represents goodness and religion, no matter which kind of religion.
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a story about a Vampire named Count Dracula and his journey to satisfy his lust for blood. The story is told through a series of individuals’ journal entries and a letters sent back and forth between characters. Bram Stoker shows the roll in which a certain gender plays in the Victorian era through the works of Dracula. This discussion not only consists of the roll a certain gender takes, but will be discussing how a certain gender fits into the culture of that time period as well as how males and females interact among each other. The Victorian era was extremely conservative when it came to the female, however there are signs of the changing into the New Woman inside of Dracula. Essentially the woman was to be assistance to a man and stay pure inside of their ways.
The most controversial and compelling theme to emerge from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is that of Victorian women, sex, and gender. Many characters are meant to show what is happening in the Victorian era as well as portray the changes in society that are coming. Lucy is one of the characters that really shows how the idea of the Victoria woman is changing. Mina is meant to juxtapose Lucy by showing how the victorian woman would act. Gender roles are seen when Jonathan talks about how he may be less of a man if the weird sisters were to victimize him rather than Dracula. Bram Stoker is showing the changing social norms when the Victorian era is coming to an end through the themes of sex and gender, and he is taking a stance of opposition to the changing
The illumination of cues and clues regarding Dracula begin following Harker’s declaration: “I am a prisoner!” (32). Firstly, the question of Dracula’s curious actions and presence is prevalent. According to Harker, he has “not seen the Count eat or drink” during his entire stay (31). This is particular, and when tied in with Dracula’s “demoniac fury” and the fact here was “no reflection of him in the mirror” when Harker cuts himself shaving present an image of a creature which the Transylvanian peasantry warned against earlier (31). However, this idea is quickly repressed when contrasted with Dracula’s humanistic attributes of education and culture. The reader then questions Dracula’s motives in learning about England and his want to blend, not to be known “for a stranger” (26). The immediate impression is that he wants to adapt and become independent in the new society and, being that independence is considered important, his goals are thought to be good. Secondly, “the story of his race” is peculiar
Perception is the manuscript for the past, present, and future alike. Ones perception of a novel could be completely unlike the next. Online research regarding Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” provided many useful points of view on numerous topics such as Count Dracula’s idea “The blood is the life” (Stoker 121) This statement can range anywhere from the literal meaning of Count Dracula needs blood to continue his life or that blood is a contributor that enables humans to possess life. When reading a novel each and every person will have altering perceptions about things in this novel. Bram Stoker’s writing style is vague to the point that he requires the reader to draw their own interpretation of the novel which enables the reader to think critically. Perception is all around us, it’s unique and assists one’s ability to process information.
While reading Dracula, by Bram Stoker, readers are transported into the Victorian Era through the pages of great, mythological, literature. Not only does Stoker place emphasis on the gender role issues circulating the 1800’s, but focuses on controversial topics such as religion and sexuality, while masking it behind a riveting fictional work. The book takes place between a series of letters and journal entries written by the characters. Dracula, the antagonist, is depicted as a blood-thirsty vampire, who transforms wholesome men and women into the like. Throughout the book, Stoker covers many feminist theories, while primarily focusing on female sexuality, showing the perception of women during the 1800’s.
Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula is a novel that condemns liberated female sexuality, presenting it as volatile and threatening to the established patriarchal order of the Victorian Era. By examining the varying level of sexuality among Stoker’s female characters and their narrative outcomes, the novel’s attitude that female sexuality is hostile becomes apparent.
The Victorian era depicts strong qualities, sexual limitation, and a strict social set of social rules. Throughout the Victorian period, one of the main concerns was the role of women and the place they played in society. Victorian conviction expresses that women had no sexual desire, but Brian Stoker's Dracula is a story that is a thinly veiled disguise of the repressed sexual mores of the Victorian era. It is more than clear that there are themes of female sexuality and its imagery. The Victorian society spins around the concealment of women and are put down in scenes and occasions all through the nove.
The relationship that exists between gender, sexuality and sexual practice is one that is not static, but is ever changing and shifting dependent upon the society in which it exists (Brickell, 2007). This essay aims to describe how Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula, presents a “characteristic, if hyperbolic, instance of Victorian anxiety over the potential fluidity of gender roles” (Craft, 111-112), whilst also inverting and subverting conventional Victorian gender patterns through the characterisation and portrayal of the vampire women residing in Count Dracula’s castle, Mina, and Lucy as well as the ‘feminine’ passivity and submissive depiction of Jonathan Harker.
Bram Stoker’s ingenious piece of work on writing Dracula has set the expectation for gothic novels all over the world and time to come. The mindset of writing Dracula through the Victorian Era really sets the tone for the reader by creating a spine-tingling sensation right through the novel. With this in mind, Stoker wouldn’t have been able to succeed his masterpiece without the effective uses of symbolism, imagery, foreshadowing, and its overall theme.
The Victorian Era is regarded as very impactful time in terms of literature. It incorporated the elements of Gothic principles such as isolation, fascination of the past, and decay. All of the listed characteristics appear in the infamous novel Dracula and play a significant role in how the book is transcribed. But perhaps the most significant attribute would be the concept of othering or foreigners.In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stoker provides a thorough perspective in to the British fear of the other.He utilizes the main character, Dracula, to convey how society portrays foreigners or immigrants as aggressors.
Bram Stoker’s most successful novel Dracula, is a fiction novel where he addressed controversial themes and subjects in the Victorian Era by describing what society was like at that time. When Stoker published Dracula in 1897, it’s was the most popular vampire story in the Victorian Era till in this century. Dracula was one of his greatest achievements and success in his writing career. Stoker reveals varies controversial themes such as feminism by describing and presenting multiple female characters. The author uses the characteristics and actions of the female characters in the story such as Lucy Westenra, Mina Harker and the three brides of Dracula to emphases and develops the theme of feminism throughout the novel.