the next part.

im still going! ive got to page 45! alot has happened in 30 pages and one thing i have noticd is how fast paced the novel is. it feels like i have already been told the majority of the story when im not yet past the 5th chapter. i am intrested to see what developments there will be to the plot of the novel and what can happen to Jonathon Harker to extend this novel further.

in the last section of Dracula i have read we have finally met the infamous Count himself. i enjoyed reading the description of him as it basically described the standard view of a vampire that we have today. this must be because this was the origin of the ideas of a vampires apperance and this image has since been replicated in: TV, films and even other novels. our perception of the Count changes drastically in the last section i have read. at first the reader sees him as a kind and welcoming man that though is a little strange has the best intrest of his guest at heart. however as the novel goes on we gradually begin to see the Count for who he really is and realise that he is trying to mislead Jonathan to believe that he is a kind and good man when in actual fact he is a demon from the depths of hell. he did a good job of it aswell. as i bagan to read from chapter 1 onwards i felt that Dracula was just a misunderstood man who was gentle and kind. my views of him however quickly changed when he lanched Jonathan's shaving mirror out of the window. this was the first time in my opinion where we saw Dracula as he really is. a monster. later on the reader hears of him climbing down the wall head first and later on sleeping in a coffin. these revelations made me as the reader feel uneasy as these acts are so unnatural.

i am gainning intrest as the novel proggresses in the relationship between Dracula and Jonathan Harker as more information is revealed to him about the count and what he is really like. at first they started off being reasonably friendly. but now Jonathan learns about the count he is becoming increasingly less friendly. i look forward to reading more!!!

Chapter 1. My thoughts.

the first thing that struck me about this chapter and the openning of the novel was how well Bram Stoker creates a sense of realism in the chapter. the small paragraph that proceeds the openning chapter does this. it tells us that what we are about to read is taken from a mans "papers" and have been ordered to create a document of real events that this man has faced. as you read on through the chapter, you really get a sense that what you are reading are really from a mans diary. he talks alot about the food that he eats on his travels which is far from creating a gothic and scary read. he also writes about his journey and talks about how the trains were never on time. More over he writes himself little memos to remind himself to ask locals for reciepies that he has enjoyed. he also in one part of the novel describes where he is as he is writing this entry and switches to the present tense. this in my opinion really creates the sense that this is a man writing about his travels and not a fictional novel. the writer would want to create this sense of realism in his novel to make the book more scary to the reader. if we feel that the novel is fictisious then we are not scared by the characters or the events in the novel. however if we believe that the novel is real and is based on real events then we also believe that they can happen to us aswell.

towards the end of the chapter however the novel begins to swing more towards gothic but still keeps the realistic diary qualities. as they get nearer the castle the atmosphere becomes more and more gothic with the dark clouds, the full moon and the houling wolves. scary stuff!!! this is more what i expected from Dracula.

i think that the count so far has not been described yet but we can guess that he is not a good person from the local peoples reaction to him. however from his letter to Jonathan Harker he seems like a kind and friendly person. i think that he will show this kindness to Jonathan throughout the next few chapters, but we as the reader will know what he is really like. dramatic irony i think will be key in the following chapters.

what im doing

Hi, im Sam West and it's my task in english to blog my thoughts and questions on the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. As i read the novel i will post what i think about each section i have read, what i think certain parts mean to the novel as a whole and will comment on the some of Bram Stokers writing techniques and their affectivness. i may also throw in the odd piece of creative writing that will be inspired by what i have read. by the time i reach the end of "Dracula" i hope to have a useful set of notes on different sections of the novel that i can use to pass my english exams, fingures crossed! i think that by blogging regularly i will become adapt to writing critically about texts which is a key skill in english. i also hope that my thought may help others in their studies of "Dracula". So here it goes!