2Nov2015

1. Do you think Lucy will be able to be saved before she completely changes into a vampire? Why or why not? Lucy will be able to be saved before she changes into a vampire completely because Dracula has not sucked the blood out of her yet.

2.  For each character: Lucy, Lucy's mom, Holmwood's father, and Renfield, list the physical maladies of their character and what those maladies symbolize (in terms of larger themes and issues in the text). Lucy's illlness is that she has gotten bitten by Dracula and is continuing to get bit. Lucy's mother and Holmwood's father both have the effects of old age. Renfield is a mental patient at Seward's asylum.

3.  What kinds of illnesses/afflictions are in the story right now? What do they symbolize given the context of the novel? Could they symbolize other themes and/or issues in a different novel? Are some physical afflictions universally bad or good? What physical changes could Stoker introduce to symbolize that his characters have taken a turn for the better? How can a reader know what an author's message is behind a character's struggle with physical illness, deformity, etc.? Illnesses in Dracula consist of old age, weakening of the body, and just daily sicknesses that occurred in this period of time. Good physical condition, no more pale Lucy, and medicine could be brought up to help turn the sicknesses around for the better. When reading Dracula, a person will know that the author is conveying illnesses likely because that is all they knew in this period of time. There was no medicine to cure a bunch of stuff.

4. Complete this question on Google Drive and Share with me. [LASTNAME_LETTER] Imagine Lucy's health suddenly improves. Write a letter, as if you were Lucy, to Mina that describes what positive physical changes your body is going through and what you think they symbolize for your future.

5.  Was Lucy's blood transfusion a good idea? Why or why not? Collect their responses. Lucy's blood transfusion was not a good idea because no matter what they do, Count Dracula will still be invited into her house where he has the option to continue harming her.

6. What do you think about the use/presence of blood in a text? Are uses of blood in a novel good? Bad? Both? What can blood symbolize in a positive way (health, etc.)? What can it symbolize in a negative way (injury, etc.)? Are there other examples of blood in a novel that are very different, or even the same, as in "Dracula"? Is there only one symbol behind blood's appearance, or can it be interpreted a number of ways? Blood does not affect me personally except that it creates a more dramatic and intense scene. I am pro-blood use but others may not agree. Novels have a fifty percent chance of having blood in them. Blood is good for any book because it makes a more intense scene to really hook the reader. The negative thing about blood is that it could mean someone has hurt something, not necessarily the 'bad guy' in books either. Blood has a few symbols in that they mean dramatic, something bad just happened, and the story is often interesting at that point.

7.Imagine you are directing a school play of "Dracula". Knowing the audience will be made up of students, parents, and administrators, how would you handle the use of blood on stage? Would you have very little, a lot, or something in between? What would be the reason behind your decision? How might your choice influence the symbolism of the blood and the audience's interpretation of it? Directing the school play "Dracula", I would not use so much blood that it would look like someone is going to die of blood loss. In some scenes I would only have a some blood showing that they did bleed or there was blood involved; other than that I still would not use an abundance of blood because it is a school play and it has to be appropriate for all ages, including young children. With the amount of blood I choose to use, the audience would interpret that it is enough blood to let you know bleeding occurred but not so much that it is scary.

8. Is blood in "Dracula" seen as a good thing, a bad thing, or both? Write at least two paragraphs, using specific examples from the text to support your answer. 
In "Dracula", blood is seeming to have came from Count Dracula's great ancestors. The novel speaks on how blood relates to sexual intercourse. Count Dracula and his minions were feeding on blood and he said that it was the equivalent to the exchange of fluids in the body. The Count "drains" Lucy, Mina and others after penetrating them and making a tiny bitemark on their neck; which is where the Count receives the blood from. 

Christianly, Dracula would be drinking wine that has been made to look like human blood. Dracula has not done that and since then he has drank actual human blood. This would allow you to get eternal life in a spiritual sense, he has done it in a way that is a crime. Dracula is killing innocent women to prolong his life.