The attack on Renfield, the scene with Dracula, Harker, and Mina, and Mina's reports of what Dracula has been doing to her during his visits are all quite detailed and gory. The objective of this lesson is to examine the use of gore in the horror genre.
Chapter 21 is considered overly gory because the Professor and Dr. Seward are worried about Mina so they decided to break into her room where her and Jonathon were sleeping, only to find Mina had been bitten on the neck by Dracula. Dracula had a wound on his chest and held Mina's head to his chest to give his blood so he could heal. Jonathon Harker is in a daze at the time, but once he wakes up he demands an answer on what Dr. Seward and Van Helsing did to Mina and him. Mina realizes she has drank Dracula's blood and feels unsanitary to even kiss her husband. Harker, Helsing and Seward convince her that she did not drink his blood and that they will protect her.
2) Flip through Chapter 21 and list as many adjectives as you can find that appear in the chapter. Are they positive? Negative? Gory? What kind of feeling are you left with after reviewing the lists? How does that feeling contribute to the reader's experience of reading such a gory chapter?
1-calmness-positive
2-lethargic-negative
3-horrible-gory
4-sound-neutral
5-fat-negative
6-strict-gory
7-poor-negative
8-superficial-positive
9-terrible-gory
10-dressing- neutral
After reviewing this list of adjectives from Chapter 21, I am left feeling that this chapter is rough, action-packed and gory. The feeling that contributes to the readers'experiences of reading a gory chapter are that the reader experiences thrill instead of being bored and nothing happening.
3) Gore in the horror genre is nothing new. Did you find this chapter over-the-top gory? Not enough gore? Too much in some scenes (with Dracula and Mina), but not enough in others (Renfield being found by Van Helsing)? Can a horror novel be done without gore? How important is gore? Is it expected from the reader? Would it have been expected from a reader during the early 1900s? Do readers' expectations and tolerance of gore change as society changes?
I did not find this chapter over-the-top gory. There is much blood and gruesome activity in the scene with Dracula and Mina at night; while there is not much gore in the scene with Renfield being found by Van Helsing. A horror novel can not be done without gore because if there is not a type of gore then it may not attract readers as well. Gore is important because is represents an act of violence which is action in a novel which attracts readers' attention. Yes, gore is expected from any readers, even the 1900s. As society changes, the expectancy of gore of readers stays pretty much the same.
4) Create two lists: one for "Dracula", and one for any other novel or movie you have read or seen in the horror genre. List the elements and presence of gore and how gore was presented in "Dracula" and the novel/movie of your choice. What were the similarities? What were the differences? Was one "better" than the other? Why?
As my movie to compare to "Dracula", I chose Jessabelle. I chose this movie because it has a lot of gore in it and it relates to "Dracula" in that aspect. Jessabelle had scary scenes with ghosts and within herself. She bled a lot on time in the bathtub and it had a lot of blood; it was very greusome.
5) On Google Drive write an essay (doc title: LASTNAME_Vlad): Dracula is supposedly based on a real historical figure named Vlad the Impaler. Find three similarities between this historical figure and the literary character and explain how and when they appear in the novel.
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