Dracula Literary Analysis Essay

Dracula Literary Analysis Essay Although the idea of vampires had already been popular in folklore long before Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, his adaptation of the tale lead to the creation of one of literatures most Symbolically sexualized characters. Dracula have proven the 1897 novel to be truly timeless. It is arguably one of the most beloved classics of gothic Literature. However, relying loosely on the text, modern renditions habitually bypass the more Controversial subjects of fear within the text as those fears relate to female sexuality and Homosexuality. By examining the Victorian era in which Dracula was written, looking closely At how the female characters are portrayed, the gender relations between the characters, and the Blatant homosexual undertones of the novel, this reflection will explore how the classic seamlessly manipulates the themes of womens sexuality, gender inversion, and also the point of view of Bram Stoker. Dracula becomes the famous horror novel in the 15th century and also an inspired man y horror story after that. First person point of view is the predominate viewpoint of Dracula. The fascinating thing about the book is that it takes on the viewpoint of several characters in the form of letters, journals, and diary entries. Occasionally there are third person accounts written as newspaper articles. If the story were only written in third person or even in only one characters viewpoint the story would not unfold in quite the same way. The reader would not know more than the characters or be able to put things together long before the characters. It would not be nearly as suspenseful. Mina Murray Harker is the main character in the novel because we read her diary entries more than anyone elses. Mina is brave because she goes into dangerous situations trying to save her friend Lucy. Mina is persistent in that she refuses to give up hope that they will destroy Dracula. She is hard working as shown when she types up all the diaries and journals from several people so that all the information about Dracula is found in one place. Finally, Mina is also loyal to her husband and she is intelligent. Professor Van Helsing is one of the many minor characters in the novel. Van Helsing is an intelligent man, having studied unusual cases from all around the world. He is also a bit strange when he demands that the suffering Lucy wear garlic around her neck. Van Helsing is a loyal friend when he travels to London to help discover what is wrong with Lucy. Finally he is resourceful and determined. Dracula is written in journal entries, letters between friends, and news articles. Not only is it written in many forms, it uses many points of view. The journal entries, and letters are written in first person, but the news articles are written in third person. Because of these many points of view, the reader gets to see how many people view the situation with the Count and the sub-plots in the novel. The novel starts in first person point of view with Jonathon Harker. He seems to be a very pract ical man that pays attention to detail. Then the point of view shifts to letters between Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra. These two sweet girls have been best friends for years and who face disaster when Lucy begins to walk in her sleep. In between these letters a News article is told in a narrators voice. From there the point of view shifts to Dr. Seward. His journal entries are more centered on facts and possible solutions. Along with Dr. Sewards entries, Professor Van Helsing does include his own thoughts on the problems and the solutions he views. This many shifts in point of view normally wouldnt work, and cause the story to seem disjointed. Since the shifts are journal or diary entries, Stoker uses transitions well and makes the shifts not abrupt and work for the plot. One of the major themes in Dracula is the concept of Christian Salvation. This theme starts in the beginning as Harker is traveling to Castle Dracula. The locals cross themselves, make the sign of the cross, and one puts a Rosary around Jonathon Harkers neck. We see Stoker using the theme that if a person will follow Christ salvation will be found in heaven and evil will be kept at bay. Another instance were Stoker is using the theme of Christian Salvation is when Van Helsing is brought into so save Lucy Westenra from the vampire hold. After the Count arrives at London he begins his affair with Lucy, but not in the usual sense. The Count chooses beautiful women, then seduces and converts her while she sleeps. As Mina and Dr. Seward strive to keep Lucy alive, Professor Van Helsing arrives to aid Seward in saving Lucy. After realizing that Lucy is a vampire, a cross is kept around at all times Even though Lucy did become a vampire, it was through Christian Salvation that Van Helsing tr ied to save her. Throughout the novel Bram Stoker deals with the theme of beast versus humanity. The idea of same-sex erotica also confuses what it means to be a sexual being. The novel does not dismiss homoerotic desire and threat; rather it simply continues to diffuse and displace it (Craft 111). As seen in the combination of male blood during the transfusion scene, men may only touch each other through women; therefore Dracula uses the hyper-sexuality of the mutated women he controls in order to get to the men he really wants. He is the original supreme vampire and uses his offshoots of female vampires to enact his will and desire. My jackals [will] do my bidding when I want to feed, he claims (Stoker 360). For this reason, among others, numerous scholars have read the processes of biting, sucking, and sharing blood in Dracula as sexual, reproductive actions. Throughout the Dracula book I am now more clearly understand the culture and lifestyle of the 15th century. However, more important than the meaning behind the tangible concluding events, is the fact that within Dracula are the ever-present struggles to define, maintain, manipulate, and explore what it means to be a sexual being; to struggle with duality. Stoker stretches the concept until it becomes as distorted as his master villain, yet in the process, brings the reader closer to discovering the true spectrum of human sexuality.

Louisiana & The United States Essay

Louisiana is one of the United States of America states whose capital is located at Baton Rouge. The state is characterized by a rich unique multilingual and multicultural heritage. It is home for many ethnic groups. The Louisiana creoles people and the French speaking Cajuns are dominant in the southern Louisiana state and have distinct cultures. Blending of these cultures has resulted to Creole lifestyle immerging that has become deep rooted cultural, social, economic lifestyle of the Louisiana until the 20th century when it was overtaken by the Anglo Americans. Creole ancestors settled in Louisiana before 1803 when it was purchased from the Western Europe, and Senegal, they then settled in the State along the main water ways. Continuous blending of these disparate of France, Senegal and Germany led to emergence of the creed and this become a dominant social cultural and economic lifestyle till the 20th century (Carl Brasseaux, Keith Fontenot, Claude Oubre pp68-81). Acadians are the ancestors of Cajuns; the Acadians are French speaking people of Nova Scotia Canada and New Brunswick. After the Britain won the Indian and French war, the separated families and the Acadians were settled in camps in England colonies for 10-30 years and those who escaped settled French Canada, upon being freed they scattered in Canada Mexico, France with majority seeking refugees in South Louisiana. Cajun were considered as a lower class national as their name means but it was in 1970 when they disclosed their natural resources of gas and oil when their culture music, food and lifestyle was internationally recognized in . Creole is a term borrowed from Portuguese and Spanish by the French government. It means the native products and the colony’s people, whereas the meaning of Cajun is to subject to debate variant apathetic. The origin of Acadia is either Greek or India which means a camp set up in a good place. The Creole was an expression of colonial ghost in both the Spanish and French Regimes. The Creole then formed its own identity and they were normally referred to as the French creed. Colonial French was a language spoken by French Creole who were of white origin; a hybrid of French- West African language is usually spoken by the black creeds. It’s the hybrid language that is mostly spoken by the people of central Louisiana currently whereas the creed French is extent. The whites that are as a result of French – Spanish mixture were called French creed and the mixed up mulatto population was called creeds of color, African creed or black creed (Carl Brasseaux, Keith Fontenot, Claude Oubre pp 40-81). The Cajun have to date retained their unique dialect from the French language and assortment of other cultural characteristics that usually distinguish them from other ethnic group – unlike what its popularly believed by the Cajun communities, Cajuns did not solely descend from the Acadian exile but also descended from other numerous groups after intermarriage over several generations: the intermarriages with the Germans, Spanish, Native Americans, French creed and the Metis. The French creeds who were settled in the rural areas were absorbed by the Cajun have a very pure French dialect despite the influences from the Acadians. Unlike the French creoles, the Cajuns ancestors are not French origin but of Hispanic, German, Canary Islanders and Filipino settlers as a result of intermarriages The geographical location of the Cajun has a strong relation to the lifestyle of the Cajun people. Those who settle at Atchafalaya Basin, a long the Westland’s and Bayous adapted a water based lifestyle. This water based lifestyle included their economic life of trapping, hunting and fishing, the Cajuns who settled southwest Louisiana prairies adapted a land-based lifestyle, that included farming sugar cane and rice, cattle rearing among other agricultural practices. Many creoles and Cajuns migrated and settled part Arthur and Beaumont seeking oil related jobs since oil drilling become a major economic activity in the 19970 – 1980. The Cajun music originated from French speaking people that were Catholics of Canada. Fiddle was the most dominant instrument in the earlier years but with time, the Acadian has also become popular, Jazz is a popular music of the Blade Creole that has been popularized in the 20th century. Both the Cajuns and the Creole sing the zydeco music, but initially it was only sang in the Cajun French, but the blade creoles added some linguistic elements to the zydeco music. Nowadays, the zydeco music is sung in Cajun French or English and a few done in black Creole. The zydeco is closely related to American blues, Cajun music jazz and the swamp music and the most common zydeco music instrument is the frottoir just like the Catholic Church but nowadays they have joined other religious sects. The culture of these two ethnic groups was deep rooted in their community catholic and cuisine, they observed many catholic practices like the lent, holy week and the merdi gras (fat Tuesday). The Creole identity has been ignored since late 1960 by both the non creoles and creoles themselves after the emergence of the Cajun pride and the Louisiana French development council conception. Since then you can travel to New Orleans, the original birth place of creoles languages and identity of the west of Mississippi river where creoles families reside and find them referring themselves as Cajuns. Cajuns movements have divided Louisiana into Cajun French Creole and black Creole, but it’s however noted that Cajun initially referred to a separate subset of the Louisiana francophone. The colonial French and the Louisiana French are no longer fluently spoken by most creoles and this had catalyzed the neglecting of the Creole people. The creoles identify is a race versus culture but not recognized nowadays. The creoles of Louisiana are recognized people having the following mixes, Spanish, French, Africans and American ancestry and Creole is accepted as a big culture group that share Spanish and French ancestry (Ira Berlin PP 290-325). The cuisine is a unique cooking style that originated from new Orleans and adapted by both the creoles and the Cajun but its greatly influenced by the Americans, French Caribbean and the African Gumbo is traditionally a Creole dish which is of the features of the cuisine, other features of the cuisine include the jambalaya all these dishes are commonly prepared by both the creoles and the Cajuns. Despite efforts to have one national language in Louisiana, the francophone Louisianans have pressured the need to maintain their language. This led to the Cajun movement that pioneered the establishment of the council for development for the French in Louisiana. This council initially was advocating for the use of standard French in Louisiana but the pressure and protests by the Creole community and the Cajun community has forced the adoption of all varieties of French that includes the creoles and the Cajuns in Louisiana. This has had good fruits since it seen as a way of incorporating Francophone Louisiana with the other francophone world. Although the Cajuns were discriminated in the earlier times, the French Revival Movement has convinced the Cajuns to be proud of them selves, further more, the Cajun French is being taught in the public schools. Due to social factors that have led to the creoles French loosing their identity, the Cajun French has become more politically powerful than the Creole French currently. The Cajun French are becoming more dominant as the Creole French become extinct. Currently it’s only the black Creole who identifies themselves as the Creole people and there are very few Creole speaking people below the age of six years. As the Louisiana Creole are languishing, three movements, the Un Cajun Committee, the southern heritage supporting creoles and the C. R. E. O. L. E INC. these movement have accused the French movement with the intention of making the Creole extinct and there the few Creole have identified themselves with a unique culture meant to be preserved. Initially it’s the French Cajuns who were marginalized but today it’s the opposite as it’s the French Creole who are faced with the problem of racial and linguistic marginalization. REFERENCES Ira Berlin (2000) Many Thousands Gone, Harvard University Press, Harvard Carl Brasseaux, Keith Fontenot, Claude Oubre (1996) Creoles of color in the Bayou Country, University of Mississippi press, Mississippi Shane K. Bernard (2003) the Cajuns, University of Mississippi press, Mississippi

Technology, Social Media, And Education - 890 Words

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The constant use of cellphones has caused humans to have less personal interaction which has resulted in a decrease of interpersonal skills. The internet has easily allowed us to â€Å"google† information we wish to know, however, when trying to differentiate between facts, non sense and opinions, it is difficult. â€Å"When is a fact a fact? If you are a postmodernist, the answer is clear: never† (Andrew J. Cherlin, 79). Statistics can be manipulated in favor of the person producing the fact. Social media, the independentShow MoreRelatedHow Technology Affects Our Education Essay1357 Words   |  6 PagesIs technology changing the way we think and the way we learn? The internet is a powerful source that has taken over our current generation. The way we do things is changing every day and technology is advancing faster than ever. 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Review Of Operation Eagle Claw And The Risk Management...

Background: On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans captive. This terrorist act triggered the most profound crisis of the Carter presidency and began a personal ordeal for Jimmy Carter that lasted 444 days. President Carter committed himself to the safe return of the hostages while simultaneously protecting America’s interests and prestige. He pursued a policy of restraint that put a higher value on the lives of the hostages than on American retaliatory power or protecting his own political future. As we review Operation Eagle Claw and the risk management process, we uncover several major problems that arose before and during the operation. These factors increased the scope and complexity, as well as, the experience of all involved-- outcome of the project was a major political and military disaster. The mission was a very high risk and any efforts to mitigate the risk were completely absent. The elements of project (operational) risk for Eagle Claw went beyond the bounds of the capabilities of the team. As the scope grew, the complexity and budget grew with it, the experience was dangerously lacking, and there was never any clear solution to the problem. Early in the 1960s, the Shah announced social and economic reforms but refused to grant broad political freedoms. Iranian nationalist condemned the Shah and his U.S. supported regime and accused him of â€Å"westernizing† of Iran. Between 1963 andShow MoreRelatedproject manajment1121 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿2 -15-99 Project Management: The Managerial Process COMPREHENSIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE CHAPTER 1 Modern Project Management What is a project? The project life cycle The project manager The importance of project management Snapshot from practice: The best wireless phone in the world Snapshot from practice: The emergence of e.Schwab The evolution of project management systems Project management today-- An integrative approachRead MoreAr 670-1116218 Words   |  465 Pagesadministrative changes (app A: marked obsolete forms and publications; corrected forms and publication titles; and corrected Web site addresses; glossary: deleted unused acronyms and corrected titles/abbreviations as prescribed by Army Records Management and Declassification Agency). *Army Regulation 670–1 Headquarters Department of the Army Washington, DC 3 February 2005 Effective 3 March 2005 Uniforms and Insignia Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia Corps of CadetsRead MoreAr 670-1117328 Words   |  470 Pagesinsignia in their own right (chap 28). Adds wear of the Sapper tab as group 4 for permanent wear by qualified soldiers (chap 28). Updates the eligibility criteria for the wear of the shoulder sleeve insignia--former wartime service for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (chap 28). o o o Authorizes the wear of the reverse side full-color U.S. Flag cloth replica on utility and organizational uniforms on a permanent basis (chap 28). o Authorizes leaders in all units, regardless