You will write a literary analysis where you evaluate Bram Stoker’s novel
Dracula. Your essay must consist of a minimum of 10 complete pages and a maximum
of 15 pages-excluding the works cited page- to be acceptable. This instruction means
that the essay will extend to the very last line of the 10th page. Students are tasked with
writing the essay in the third person and in the literary present tense.
In addition, the essay will consist of 10 paragraphs: a two-paragraph introduction, 7 body
paragraphs, and a solid conclusion. In this essay, you will include substantive quotes
from five (5) secondary sources (peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles) and include
28 in-text parenthetical citations (documented direct quotes from the secondary and
primary sources).
Assignment:
In the novel Dracula, the titular character threatens the very behavioral ideals persistent
during the Victorian Era. While Dracula is introduced as a malevolent character, he is
not a threatening character because of his ascribed malevolent tendencies; rather, it is his
intelligence and his outlier status that challenges the prospects of Convention, as he
enacts chaos in a society that prioritizes propriety. Remember, Victorian writers
emphasized propriety and individuals who defied the behavioral expectations imposed by
Convention where relegated as social deviants.
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Your task, then, will be to address the ideas that present Dracula as a malevolent
character and propose an argument where you signify that his portrayal in the novel is an
indication of Western notions of propriety and civility. Dracula is not the villain of the
story; he is a manifestation of the cultural climate evident in England at this time, in that
Dracula exemplifies the fears of late Victorian society.
In addition, in one body paragraph, students will consider feminist criticism as the
manner in which to evaluate the constituted ideology. In this assignment, the student will
use the aforementioned theoretical perspective to examine and analyze a specific element
or aspect of the assigned work.
Literary theory pertains not to the meaning of a work of literature but to the theories that
reveal what literature can mean. This assignment is not an essay about theory. In a single
body paragraph, this essay will present a critical evaluation of Dracula from a particular
theoretical perspective. The student is not writing about a specific theory; the student is,
instead, applying that theory to the story.
Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Journal Articles:
Databases: You may use the following databases to find viable peer-reviewed scholarly
journal articles: JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, Project Muse, Literary
Reference Center, MLA International Bibliography, and OmniFile.
The idea is to maintain your idea about the text as your central argument and bring in the
voices of the critic as support and discussion of your idea. You want to think of it as a
formalized discussion on paper between you and the critics. While you will want to
utilize the expertise indicated in the critical sources, remember that ultimately you must
prove the validity of your thesis by incorporating direct quotes from the text
Submission Requirements:
Students must submit via the Canvas submission portals the final draft of the Research
Paper, the Detailed Outline, and the five (5) peer-reviewed secondary source articles
students included in their essays. In addition, in reference to each secondary source
article, you must highlight each source so that the instructor may easily locate the
passage that the you quoted.
Research Paper Detailed Outline Submission Portal: students will submit the
Detailed Outline
• Research Paper Submission Portal: students will submit the final draft of the
Research Paper.
• Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Journal Articles Submission Portal: students will
submit all five (5) articles. The student must highlight each source so that the
instructor may easily locate the passage that the student quoted
Guidelines:
• Use Times New Roman, 12pt.
• Double-space.
• Indent for paragraphs.
• Use MLA style for heading and format: 1” margins on all sides, place your name, my
name, your class and section number, and the date at the top left-hand corner of the first
page. Make sure your last name appears in the top right-hand corner of the page along
with the page number.
• Your idea should be central.
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• You must cite from the text in order to support your claims about the text.
• Use MLA style to cite and document your sources: parenthetical documentation and
works cited.
• You must have a Works Cited page with the correct information and formatting. This
element will be included in your final grade.
