(Recorded Course) Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) with Eleanor Nicholson (Victorian Classics)

Instructor Access (Optional grading support) is available for this course. Please note: this is ONLY recommended if you wish to write the optional paper. Identification quizzes are graded internally.

Study Dracula, a Gothic masterpiece, with the editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition and popular author of several Gothic-style novels. In this course, you’ll discover the moral & spiritual battle that takes place within the pages of Dracula. (If you have younger students, this course fits with the Homeschool Connections Grade School Unit Study Program for grades 3-6 so that your whole family can study the same era at the same time.)

How to get the most out of Dracula with Eleanor Bourg Nicholson:

  1. Read the assigned chapters of the novel (outlined in the course description).
  2. Take the quiz for that chapter range (do this BEFORE watching the recorded class). 
  3. Watch each Recorded class session. 
  4. Complete additional quizzes and assignments as they are ordered on the moodle class page. 
  5. Review recorded classes if/as you need to. 
  6. Once the course is completed to the parent's satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records. Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping.
IF planning on the optional literary-critical writing assignment:
  1. Contact the Instructor early to discuss possible topics and your proposed timeline for composition and completion.
  2. As you read, mark or otherwise identify passages that might be useful in developing your paper.
  3. Be prompt with your deadlines.

Total Classes: 6 

Duration: 55 minutes

Prerequisite: Reading of Chapters 1-12 of Dracula before the first day of class

Suggested Grade Level: 9th to 12th grade

Suggested High School Credit: ½ semester credit for Literature or English

Instructor: Eleanor Bourg Nicholson

Instructor Email: ebnicholson@protonmail.com

Course Description: Often vacillating wildly between the terrible and the comic, Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of blood and passion stands as one of the greatest and most baffling masterpieces of Gothic fiction. The work brings together a host of disparate but compelling themes: tensions between antiquity and modernity, the powers and limitations of technology, the critical importance of feminine virtue, the difference between superstition and religion, the nature of evil, and the complex relationship between ancient faith and scientific enlightenment. In addition, the work opens up the door to consideration of the vast and fascinating traditions of folklore, literature, and the preternatural. Our studies will also address its biographical and historical context, providing insight into the late Victorian Period. In this course, we will unpack the strange monster that is Dracula, and study it together over six classes.

Course Outline:

Class one: Chapters 1-5.

Class two: Chapters 6-10.

Class three: Chapters 11-15.

Class four: Chapters 16-20.

Class five: Chapters 21-24.

Class six: Chapters 25-27 (Plus Final Note).

Course Materials: Bram Stoker, Dracula (Any edition permitted, but the Ignatius Critical Edition is highly recommended, ISBN 978-1586174941 (https://amzn.to/3kt7337). The novel is also available for free via Project Gutenberg.

Homework: Completing the assigned reading for each class; taking six quizzes. Estimated homework time each week: 3 hours.