Dracula+DL+HoonHo


 * Hoon Ho Chung

Theme or 6 traits Identification:** -The theme duality of human nature is represented in the chapters five through eight.

One of the main themes in the novel, //Dracula//, written by Bram Stoker is duality of human nature. First of all, Mina represents good side of human because of her generosity and sacrifices for Lucy and John Harker. However, Dracula who murders many innocent civilians, such as the crews of Demeter, symbolizes evil. In Mina's letter, it mentions, "I have cried over the good Sister's letter till I can feel it wet against my bosom, where it lies. It is of Jonathan, and must be next my heart, for he is in my heart" (Stoker 94). Even though Jonathan has left a long journey to Transylvania, Mina does not forget about her fiance; instead she worries about John so much that she wants to visit him. Most importantly, Mina writes in her journal, "I have been working very hard lately, because I want to keep up with Jonathan's studies, and I have been practicing shorthand very assiduously" (Stoker 55). Mina does not want to be burden for John, but instead she wants to be an assistant and help John's work. Thus, she is caring more about others such as Lucy and John instead of herself. Mina's care and effort demonstrates that she is representing purely good side of human. On the other hand, human's evilness is illustrated by Dracula who uses Renfield as his slave. The scene is shown when Renfield goes to Carfex and he says, "I am here to do Your bidding, Master. I am Your slave, and You will reward me, for I shall be faithful. I have worshiped You long and afar off." (Stoker 98). The Master is obviously Dracula; unlike Mina, he is manipulating Renfield to do evil deeds. Most importantly, Dracula does not care about others; if he does worry, Dracula should not have made Renfield as his slave. Also, Dracula's descriptions are shown through Mina's journal, "What is was, whether man or beast, I could not tell; I did not wait to catch another glance" (Stoker 88). Dracula is trying to make Lucy as the first victim, which requires another sacrifice for Dracula. Since Dracula manipulates Lucy and Renfield for his own purposes, he is considered as evil. While Dracula is at Whitby, he does help others instead he causes death, which is not what good person would do. Nevertheless, Mina sacrifices herself for Lucy by rescuing her from the Dracula. This is shown by Mina's journal; "I bent over her I could see that she was still asleep. her lips were parted, and she was breathing--not softly" (Stoker 88). Mina's courage saves Lucy, which demonstrates a sacrifice. Mina who demonstrates good, sacrifices for others; however, Dracula, representation of evil, is only manipulating other people for his own satisfaction. Therefore, duality of human nature is demonstrated by Mina and Dracula's actions.

"Indeed, it might have been serious, for the skin of her throat was pierced. I must have pinched up a piece of loose skin and have transfixed it, for there are two little red points like pinpricks, and on the band of her nightdress was a drop of blood" (Stoker 89).
 * Critical Passage:**

This passage is very significant for readers because the two red points are not actually from the pins, it is from the Dracula teeth. Therefore, this foretells that Lucy is going to be just another vampire. Also, this could mean that Dracula is trying take Lucy as his wife or at least as an alliance. Moreover, if Lucy becomes a vampire she is going to turn to the evil side of human and produce more vampires. This foreshadows that Lucy is turning against Mina who represents good, which could possibly make a battle between the two. Most importantly, from next chapters, the readers are probably able to see the metamorphosis that Lucy is going to go through as she is turning into a vampire. Therefore, the critical passage foretell the events that could possible occur in the next chapters.

1. Simile and Allegory: "A woman ought to tell her husband everything--don't you think so, dear?--and I must be fair. Men like women, certainly their wives, to be quite as fair as they are; and women, I am afraid, are not always quite as fair as they should be" (Stoker 58).
 * Literary Advice:**

Mr. Stoker is using simile in this section to emphasize the importance of different roles that woman and man had in the Victorian Era. He mentions the quote, "as fair as" twice. This demonstrates that women were not equal to men in the Victorian Era. Therefore, it is an allegory, too because it is reflecting to the past events in England. Also, from the phrase "as fair as," it is easy to see the compare and contrast between men and women. It is distinguishing men and women clearly. Therefore, Stoker uses the simile and allegory to refer to the historical event and demonstrate the inequality between men and women.

2. Simile: "When we closed in on him he fought like a tiger. He is immensely strong, and he was more like a wild beast than a man" (Stoker 98).

The quote emphasizes that Renfield is really strong and inhumane. It is mentioned that "wild beast than a man," which demonstrates how Renfield is closer to a beast than a man. Although Renfield is human physically, the text explains that Renfield is closer to beast in strength and mind. Due to simile, the readers are able to draw an image of Renfield's appearance. A reader can assume that Renfield looks scary and big. Therefore from the simile, one can see that Renfield is not really a human who can think, but rather as a tiger or beast, which only uses strength instead of intelligence.

As the first discussion, I personally believe that we did really well. The first activity, acting, was very affective to get the attraction from our class. I expected everyone to be a little bit tired from all the work they had to do for today, so I chose to do acting, which could get them a little bit excited before the discussion. Also, the activity was very productive for the students to learn, which part if very important in the novel, //Dracula//. Since we acted the scene out, the students were able to visualize what was really happening in the important scene, which gives them better understanding of the novel. However the bad thing about the acting was that it took a little bit too much time. Every transition and acting took a little time to progress. Overall, the acting activity was really great to get people's attention. Next time, we could make the acting activity better by assigning the students the character beforehand so that they could prepare better for acting. Also, this would take less time for transition. For the Socratic Seminar, it was good for the students to understand their character much better. Most importantly, they had the option to speak in different point of view, which made the discussion very interesting. However, some students did not prepare as their character, so it was not as affective as the acting activity. To improve, I think the students should have prepared a little better. From these activities, I learned that it was very significant to get the people's attention and teach them enthusiastically. Overall the discussion was really great and I think helped the students to understand the section much better.
 * Reflection:**