Personal Reflection

What I learned academically and intellectually from reading a classic novel is a lot of things I wouldn’t have learned if I didn’t participate in it. For intellectual, I had a stereotype that old books were boring and lame and I wouldn’t want to read one of them. I would survive on books that were being written and published in my time. This study proved me wrong. I have learned that old books are the same, if not better than the books I read today. They are the basis of what gave birth to the books I read today. I now will have no problem with picking up a titled “Classic Novel” or any old book.

I have grown academically by the posting and the discussion about my book. When I posted on my web blog about the theme, the setting, the character bio’s, or just what was happening in the story, I found that I was able to understand “Dracula” and what it was about more. The story seemed clearer to me and I found that when I opened the book to start reading again, I was excited to read what was next. While I was reading, I was wondering in my head what would be the best thing to share with my fellow classmates about this book.

I understood more about novels more when I finished reading “Dracula”. I could identify plot well and figure out the themes faster than before I read “Dracula”. I can fully understand what the author is pointing out, what idea might come next, or just plain understand it better now.  This book helped me learn more about writing styles, how to present the idea’s and different opinions of other people while at the same time, telling a story and it was just an awesome and amazing book to read.

 I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to any one that wants to hear a classic story about death and heroism and monsters. Thanks for following me on my journey of reading “Dracula” by Bram Stoker.

Apologia Works Cited

“Blade”. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120611/. Amazon, IMDb Pro.n.d. Web. November 30 2010. 

 “Bram Stoker” www.classic-literature.co.uk. Classic Literature Library,  Irish Authors.

n.d.Web. November 30 2010.

The Apologia of Bram Stoker and his book, Dracula

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is without a doubt, a classic novel at its best. This book was written in the 19^th century in the year 1897. When it first was published and sold, not a lot of people were into the book. It was read around the world but, no one ever thought or realized how important this book would become to today’s society.

There are many vampire related items out in the world today. There is the ever popular movie series, “The Underworld” where we follow a female vampire that kills werewolves for a living. There is also the movie “Blade” which is about a Vampire that is a protector of humans from other vampires. This character and movie were based off of a Marvel Comic book character of the same name. Though there are many more movies, the vampire world is probably biggest in the literary world. There are so many vampire books that are out in the market right at this moment, there is way too many to count. One of the biggest vampire novels is “The Twilight Saga” series. When this book was released, it started a phenomenon that engulfed the world.  Teenagers went crazy and because of this, four movies were produced.

The reason for all these examples of vampire movies and books etc. , are because without Bram Stoker’s Dracula, none of this would have ever existed.  All the movies and books would not be here. The monster figure of a vampire, a creature that sucks blood to survive and a prisoner of the night, would not even be around with the other monsters in today’s society. Werewolves, mummies, and wizardry would exist but vampires would not be in that category. Bram Stoker was the father of all Vampire fiction, movies, memorabilia, and legends. Without him, there would be nothing.

Another reason that Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the perfect book for the category of a Classic Novel is because it has obviously stood the test of time. This book was finished being written and published in the year 1897. There were probably many books also being published at the same time. Many were read, loved, and then forgotten and thrown out into the garbage or just lost. Not Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It has been able to survive for a century and thirteen years. When people want to go back and read the very original story where a vampire was involved, they could go to their very own public library, or they could just go right up to their book shelf, pick it out and read it. Many people will be able to trace easily where the whole vampire phenomenon and culture started.

The way that Bram Stoker wrote Dracula was very different then what was normally written back then. It was written from many different people’s point of view. Bram Stoker came up with a smart idea to write the story into journal entries. We could see how Jonathan Harker is holding up with Dracula while Lucy Westenra is having boy trouble. This was a new method of story writing that was introduced to the world. Many people found the idea a cool way of expressing things and throughout time, some stories have taken on the same way. Through journal entries.

 Dracula is a classic novel that has survived through wear and tear.  It was the father of all vampires today, been a natural story people can just pick up and read at any moment, and a journal of sorts that show the many different ideas and opinions of different people though they are involved in the same situation. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is definitely a classic novel and it will be forever and ever.