Unit+Plan+Outline-+Dracula

Submitted by Lyndsay Best
 * Unit Plan Outline: //Dracula//** **by Bram Stoker**

Stoker, Bram. //Dracula.// 1897
 * Canonical Text:**

The unit is based on the theme of disease. The class will be looking at three forms of society’s beliefs about “disease:” sexual orientation/preference, sexually transmitted diseases/dirty blood, and immunity/survival. By using the young adult novels as bridges to Dracula, students will see how diseases and society’s view on disease can shape literature. As a class, we will also look at how societies views on gender and sexuality have evolved in some aspects and stayed the same in others. Finally, students will discuss how upheaval in society can affect those who survive.
 * Unifying Concept- Disease and Survival:**


 * Young Adult “Bridge” Texts:**

Anderson, Laurie Halse. //Fever 1793//. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002. Matilda "Mattie" Cook is a 14 year-old girl living in Philadelphia during the Yellow Fever Outbreak of 1793. Her family is torn apart and she has to put aside her dreams. She must fight to survive as Yellow Fever ravages the city and those closest to her.

Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan. "Carmilla//." Gothic Classics: Graphic Classics Volume Fourteen.// Ed. Tom Pomplun. Mount Horeb: Eureka Productions, 2007. The series takes classic gothic tales and translates them into graphic/comic form. Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” (1872) is one of the sources upon which Bram Stoker based his //Dracula.// A young girl, Laura, befriends a strange young woman, Carmilla, while living in a foreign country. The two women become fast friends. After this meeting, a beautiful woman begins to haunt Laura nightly. The mysterious female is a vampire who preys on the sleeping Laura. The adults in Laura’s life fear that both diseases of vampirism and “abnormal” sexual desires are holding their sway over Laura, and the problem must be remedied quickly, perhaps even violently.

1.) **Letters to //Dracula//** This activity mimics the epistolary style of //Dracula// . However, the two texts of //Dracula// and “Carmilla” will be explored in tandem. a. Students will choose one character from “Carmilla.” b.That character will write a letter to a character in //Dracula// offering advice. For example, Carmilla would write to Dracula about how to choose a victim or how to gain their trust. c. Students will write 6 letters engaging in a conversation between the two chosen characters.
 * Response Activities:**

2) **Blood connection chart:** a. Students will create a chart using different colored yarns (red for victim, blue for family relation, etc) to connect the characters in //Dracula// . b. Each connection will be described/labeled; for example, Jonathan Harker is a victim of Dracula, betrothed/married to Mina, etc. c. Students should be looking at how the disease of vampirism spreads quickly and how society feared the mixing of blood between races and social classes (miscegenation). Dracula’s disease threatens the Londoners akin to a sexually transmitted disease.

3.) **The Infection Journal** To go along with //Fever 1793//, students will create a journal of a young person trying to survive the outbreak of a deadly disease. They will have to think of what they need to survive and delve into the emotions associated with the loss of loved ones to the disease. The journal will span 28 days (similar to the film //28 Days Later// ). However, there can be absolutely NO Zombies. This journal will be closer to observing/surviving the Black Death. a. It will begin with the student awakening to a world slowly succumbing to a disease. They can create what the disease is, how it is spread, and what happens to the infected. b. At least two fictional persons close to the student/narrator should be infected (1 of them dying from the outbreak). c. Students can decide whether a cure is found during the course of the journal, or if scientists have yet to find a remedy. Questions for students to consider: How will the world change because of this outbreak? Is there a new government established or does anarchy rule in the streets? Do the characters continue with their normal routine or will everything change? How will it change? What are the changes?