Bloggin' Bout Drac
The Fearsome Vampire
Abraham Stoker...
Setting
Major Issues
How our culture would address this issue?
How does the culture of our text address the issue?
Solutions to the Issue
In this day and age, technology is becoming very advanced and other sciences are leaving doubt for religion. Recently, there was a story in Asia about cloning dogs. Which will eventually lead to cloning humans. Genesis 1:26-27 asserts that man is created in God’s image and likeness and is unique among all creations. Clearly, human life is something to be valued and not treated like a commodity to be bought and sold. Now, most Christians do not believe in this because it is not "the right way". Cloning humans has been a popular topic in religious affairs because of the new sciences and technology. Isaiah 49:1-5 speaks of God calling Isaiah to his ministry as a prophet while he was still in his mother’s womb. Also, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still in the womb (Luke 1:15). All of this points to the Bible’s stand on life beginning at conception. In light of this, human cloning, with its destruction of human embryos, would not be consistent with the Bible’s view of human life.
The last major issue of the story is Dracula's quest to make the world a worse place. It is the true "Good vs. Evil" story line. With this being one of the most known and liked stories, the reader tends to think, "Why has John Harker stayed with Dracula for so long and how has he not noticed that this man is insane?". Dracula represents all evil from the past, present, and future. Just like the terrifying terrorist group "ISIS", everyone fears these people. These evil acts that both group perform are very similar. Killing people to make a statement or just to do it is what they both live for. Obviously, everything must come to an end. One day, "ISIS" will be gone such as Dracula.
Parts in the Whole!!!! YEAH!!!!
Alan's Individual Questions
Working together in a lit circle group was very helpful. It helped me to become more open minded and understanding. Whenever we met each class it was good to see others views on stuff so as to better and more fully understand the novel we were reading.
Collaboration in our lit. circle group with having multiple perspectives was also very helpful to all of us. We all had different views on the same things in the novel so when we all came together and discussed that it helped me to understand more of what I was reading.
Reading British Literature allows me to better understand the human experience because we are reading novels from people in a different culture from ours
- I think Dracula should be included in a British Literature curriculum. I think this because it is a very thrilling and entertaining novel. It also shows a different culture from ours effectively and entertaining way.
Alex's Individual Questions
Working together in a Lit. Circle group has allowed me to become a more effective learner and thinker by making me collaborate with others and form a group opinion about our book. We had to work together to form our blog, lit circle jobs, and weekly summaries. This Lit. Circle has taught me how to work with others and take constructive criticism to be a better learner and thinker.
Collaboration in our Lit. Circle incorporated to multiple perspectives in our answers because each member of the group had different views on the book. We discussed our beliefs and how the book came across to each other. The Lit. Circle gave us a multi- perspective project from all of our different viewpoints.
Reading British literature has allowed me to better understand the human experience by giving a new perspective on authors from a different part of the world. Brit. Lit has a distinct style and I have noticed it is vastly different from the pieces in America.
- I believe Dracula should be included in the Brit. Lit curriculum because it’s a classic. Dracula embodies what Brit. Lit is all about and provides that distinct style British Literature uses.
MJ's Individual Questions
In my crazy Lit Group circle, I’ve learned to be a more effective learner by doing all of my assignments and collaborating with my partners so that I can learn more as well. My partners and I worked very well with communicating with each other and knowing what we needed to accomplish. I needed Dakota to help me with my part in the blog, so we talked about what we needed to write and how it would make our blog better.
While reading Dracula, my group and I explained each of our own lit circle jobs to each other after we did our own so we could be more informed on the chapters and to grasp a better understanding of the chapters. It helps more because everyone is involved and talking.
The human experience through British Literature is achieved by reading these books because it shows their side of the story and how life was back in the day. We have read and learned about many things in their respect societies. These people all had a different outlook which definitely made me change mine.
- Dracula should be included in Brit Lit curriculum because it is a great story with many things to learn from it. Such as the “good vs. evil”, religion, and style of british literature. This is one of the classics and should be in Brit Lit forever.
Michaels Individual Questions
In my opinion working together in a lit circle group helps a lot with learning about and understanding the book. I believe this to be true because there were many parts of the book that I didn’t understand but with my group being able to read the same book and help, it gave me a much clearer understanding of what was actually happening. Also, being able to interact with the text and do the assignments that came with being in a lit circle, it helped me understand and comprehend the text better.
Collaboration of the team I was in was a big part in the experience of reading the book. Aside from the help with mechanics and what not, it offered many different perspectives. A lot of times I went into class with a certain opinion or view of the text, and then came out with a new thought due to the help of my group mates. Four brains is better than one.
Reading British literature is very helpful and beneficial to learn about the human culture. Most of the people in America are decedents of the British and could learn a lot from reading things written in their culture. A lot of the human experience is the culture and based of the experiences of the British. It says a lot about where we come from and how we established our culture.
Yes the book should be included in British literature. It is a vital part of British literature and it has many key points of the culture in it. It teaches about patience, evil, and fantasy. Kids would be missing out on not only an enjoyable read, but also many lessons from this book if it wasn’t included In the British curriculum.
Dakota's Individual Questions
Individual Questions
1. Working together in a lit circle group allowed me to become a more effective learner and thinker because I was able to collaborate with the rest of my collogues about the conflicts and themes of the novel Dracula. I was able to learn better with a group of people because not only was I able to learn how other people think while reading a novel but there was a lot of fun involved which made reading a long novel much better than it seemed. I was able to be a better thinker by communicating my thoughts with my group mates and vice versa. Overall it was a great experience.
2. Collaborating in each class after reading new chapters gives different perspectives about Dracula to each of the group members. This is important because each person in the group has different views on the issues that arise in the novel Dracula. This gives other group members more ideas to expand their thinking, add to their ideas, and make a more complex and better solution to the issues in the novel.
3. Reading British literature allows me to better understand human experience in the older times, for example the setting of Dracula and Beowulf. It gives me a different view on how they lived, ate, and went on with their daily life. I contrast this view on how I live my life everyday and realize that I, in some situations, take my life for granted. Reading British literature this year gave me a good perspective on how I should change the way I live my life.
4. I think Dracula should be included to the curriculum if there was time in the curriculum for a novel that gives the reader some good themes and issues to think upon but Dracula is not a novel to dwell on secret themes that are interlocked with other themes ext. Dracula is a “fun” read, which compared to reads like Hamlet where Shakespeare ties themes into themes.
Cole's Individual Questions
Working together in a lit circle group allows you to become a more effective learner because you get to see different perspectives on the novel. Someone may notice something that you don’t and vice versa.
Collaboration in a lit circle group creates meaning when each member of the group discusses their perspectives on the issue. When 5 people each read the same book and have a complete different understanding of it, you learn a lot more about the text. Also, it’s easier to retain information this way because you’re cutting the work into 5 parts.
For the most part, british literature uses irrational situations and characters to address the issues of that time. There are deeper truths hidden within the text that the reader must identify in order to understand what the author is trying to get across.
Dracula should be used in the british literature curriculum because it is a great representation of the traditional vs modern way of thinking. It gives the reader a sense of what it was like to live during that time period.