...Today’s modern day vampire is considered one of the most notorious and iconic figures all over the world. With the steady stream of vampire novels, films, and television shows being produced, it is fair to say that the vampire has become the dark horse of literature, every enthusiasts dream. Yet this wasn’t always the case, because vampires were once considered the stuff of nightmares. Every culture has stories of these once terrifying ‘bloodsucking demons’ that, according to literary historian Brian Frost, “may go back to prehistoric times”. However, many of the myths surrounding such creatures emerged mainly during the 18th century particularly arising in Eastern Europe in areas such as Serbia, Roma, and Slovakia. The major paradigm shift from the early 19th century to the early 21st century is a complete change in attitude and definition of a vampire from a terrifying creature of the night to a romantic and beautiful almost-human, resulting from a change in religious and societal beliefs. These myths sparked a mass hysteria throughout most the 18th century, with frequent reported sightings of alleged vampires. Most famous of which was the case of Serbian peasant Arnold Paole who is believed to be the first man accused of being a vampire (Marx). It was supposed he had killed 17 people from his village during the night, later returning to his coffin. Government officials who ordered his coffin to be opened believed at the time the body (which looked perfectly fine apart from...
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...1 ENGL 101 CPA-CRN The Evolution of Vampire Relationships. When we think about vampires we think about undead beings who suck blood out of living beings. In literature, these beings were depicted as less than human. Authors gave them an ugly face with big fang like incisors and animal type instincts. Within the last few decades however, authors have described vampires as more human. The vampire was given the body of a handsome/ beautiful human; in addition, they were given more human characteristics such as feelings, and emotions. However, the most important characteristic that has been ascribed to vampires is the ability to have relationships with people and other vampires. This characteristic has caused vampires to change from an inherently evil character into one that can make choices i.e based on emotion and not because of primal instinct. This has made vampire books and movies more appealing to the general population. One of the most successful vampire series is the Twilight series. The books and movies thrived because the story was different from other vampire stories. The series focused more on love rather than the killing of humans and other creatures. This causes readers to come up with a question like the following: Are vampires capable of loving someone like humans can? When the concept of vampires was first created, they were depicted as solitary creatures. The closest they came to having relationships was when they went to feed. They usually feed...
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...As a child I was always frightened by vampires, and evil spirits. Due to books and movies like Dracula, I am still fearful of evil spirits. Dracula is the embodiment of evil and has affected the way vampires are portrayed today. This can be seen by Bram Stoker's character of Dracula, the use of a dark setting, Dracula’s unusual abilities and the fact that Dracula is a vampire. But what do I know? How sinister could Dracula actually be? A dark setting can set the mood for the entire story. As we see in Dracula, the dark setting gives off a creepy and scary mood, the perfect mood for evil and vampires. Bram Stoker does a great job of describing the dark setting. Jonathan Harker’s trip to Castle Dracula was very unusual and also creepy. Jonathan...
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...Kelsey Ehleiter Vampire History Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the history of vampires, how they’ve progressed, and the truth behind the myths. Introduction: Everybody seems to have been bit by the latest craze of vampire fever. Get it? Bit!? Movies and television shows have been coming out left and right within the past couple of years about these blood sucking monsters, but what is the story behind it all? How was the thought of an immortal blood drinking being originated? It all started long ago… Body VLAD THE IMPALER! 1. Born to Vlad Dracul (dragon) in late 1431 2. Vlad Dracul head of the order of the dragon, high honor, called himself Dracula 3. Throne threatened- father and older brother died, devoted to revenge. 4. 1469 he regained the throne- the blood bath begins 5. Kept slaves to build castle, tortured and punished. 6. held social status and power very high – rid his kingdom of poor/homeless/handicap by burning 7. Rumors: ate flesh, drank blood. Held dinner parties next to impaled Bram Stoker 1. 1897 Bram Stoker wrote Dracula 2. general plot summary of Dracula 3. Derived from Vlad Dracula / Carmilla (Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872) 4. Dracula the movie (1931) 5. Pale complexion, fangs, blood thirsty, soulless, etc… Modern Day Vampires 1. Vampire rules vary from show to show and movie to movie 2. Often associated with special powers. 3. Werewolf enemies 4. Often keep the...
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...Critique of “(Un)safe Sex: Romancing the Vampire” In this article Backstein explains the important shift that occurred during the start of the Twilight Series and similar blood sucking tales. Furthermore today’s vampires are viewed as appealing and moral. The movies likewise portray vampires as having a feeling of discretion. They demonstrate the problems they face to defeat their allurements. Backstein also emphasizes the importance of female roles in these films. Her quality, remarkable abilities, being the object of affection, or a mix of every one of these attributes. She is the concentration of the story. Moreover, the film Twilight consists of the share of blood and savagery from multiple points of view but it also possesses a big deal of romance along with a paranormal curve. The strain, the otherworldly attributes, the danger Edward conveys add new vitality to the teen romance story. It likewise calls attention to the level of realism used, which also causes tension itself due to the supernatural qualities throughout the story....
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...The Origin of the Vampire Vampires, are they a mythical creature that was created by superstition and folklore or did they begin from someone’s fantastic imagination based on a real live person? Or maybe it was created to explain a cluster of misunderstood medical conditions that began before the medical world had advanced science and knowledge on the body and its psyche. It’s a word that inspires awe, fear, and romanticism all at once. Vampires are known in every culture and have been kept alive through stories that have been told throughout the generations. When someone utters the word “vampire” most people’s mind jump to Dracula from the great love story written by Bram Stoker. Dracula was created because Stoker was inspired by a real live man, the infamous, Vlad Tepes from Romania. That story is where love and vampires were intertwined and a kind of admiration was born. Only till recently they have become these seductive beautiful men and women in movies like ‘Twilight’ and ‘The Lost Boys’. So we are going to embark on the journey of where vampires began and explore the different aspects and origins of vampires. How these creatures were created was recorded in European folklore, Greek Mythology, found in medical conditions, and even taken from an excluded book of the bible. What is a vampire? Where did they come from? Well to get some answers we must first start at the beginning. First we must look at the word vampire. It is also spelled “vampir” or “vampyre”...
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...Title: Elements of Illusion Course: ENG225: Introduction to Film Instructor: Jonathan Belle Author: Amanda Manley Date: 3/20/2014 During the process of envisioning and designing a film, the director, production designer, and art director (in collaboration with the cinematographer) are concerned with several major spatial and temporal elements. These design elements punctuate and underscore the movement of figures within the frame, including the following: setting, lighting, costuming, makeup, and hairstyles. Choose a scene from movieclips.com. In a three to five page paper, (excluding the cover and reference pages) analyze the miser-en-scène. Used this type of lighting because of the significant effects it would present in the scene (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). When the movie starts, Aro the leader of the Volturi is fascinated when he sees Bella is immune to all the vampire’s amazing powers the lighting looks hazy with smoky appearance. The lighting defines Aro making him stand out more; his eyes were noticeable blood shoot red while the appearance of Marcus and Caius were a bit blurred. I thought the lighting of the scene evokes fear, worry, and death of Bella and Edward. The use of back lighting made the focus on Belle clearer which gives me the impression that the director wanted to show the dissimilar of dead and living highlights to detail features of Bella’s rosy cheekbone. By using low-key lighting, this allows the film to have huge amounts of shadow which...
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...to Dictonary.com a vampire is, “A preternatural being, commonly believed to be a reanimated corpse, that is said to suck the blood of sleeping persons at night.” Dracula fits into that definition of a vampire almost perfectly because vampires are essentially dead people that came bad to live to drink other people’s blood and that is exactly what Dracula does in the story. Dracula makes people think that vampires have to be all the exact same way. It kind of set the way for modern day television and movies. Although Stoker didn’t create the concept of vampires, he expressed how they looked and acted more than how they were described before. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the main character is not a stereotype but over time television and media has made it a stereotype in works such as The Vampire Diaries. The first thing people think about when they hear vampire is that they drink lots of human blood. Blood is what vampires need to get their energy to do everyday tasks and activities. In the eighteenth chapter of Dracula, Renfield explains to Mina that “The doctor here will bear me...
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...Dracula Essay There was no doubt that Dracula was written in the victorian age. 1897 to be exact. Back then and even in this present day women are seen to be weak and “helpless” meanwhile men are brave almost “heroic”, they are also seen to be more emotionally and physically stronger than women. There is a couple ways that this is portrayed in the book. For example the three women that were extremely beautiful but mainly used in the story for the sexual desire that they caused leading them to be seen as “evil”. The women in the story that were pure and chaste were seen as “strong, heroic, and steadfast in relationships”. Another example is how when the group of people go after dracula none of the girls are allowed to do anything strenuous in fear of causing them too much stress. This theme of women being less than men is very common in the gothic literature style, which is why it doesn't surprise many people when reading it. Chapter three is where...
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...Zombies and Vampires have been part of many legends, but now they are very popular with people and have many stories of their own. Many have seen horror movies, and television shows which we became scared of. The younger generation sees them as ‘awesome ’monsters. They capture our imagination and both are popular amongst adults and teenagers these days. Vampires suck human’s blood, unlike zombies that feed on human flesh. Sure both are incredible creatures that we like, but if a situation were to happen where you can become a vampire or a zombie, who would you be? Vampires and Zombies are creatures that harm humans and show many similarities and differences within them. Vampires are known to drink blood by biting on human’s necks. They have...
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...joyfulness with your family, friends by watching a comedy. While you are watching one, you may find the actors in the film tend to look funny such as the famous British comedy television program starring Rowan Atkinson. The actors’ hilarious talks and silly actions are also irresistible. Whenever you feel sad and depressed or simply feel like a laugh, comedy can always be your best friend! Some people say, “There is no remedy for love.” There actually is. Romance movie is the wisest teacher to save and guide people in love. There are 7 billion people in this world. Through the number, we can imagine how many people who are in love or have ever been in love are living with us in the same earth. Romance movie builds beautiful, fantastic stories one by one to satisfy those who desperately try to figure out what true love is. Gorgeous actors and actresses in romance movies are also inevitable....
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...religion and science and how together the ability to perceive situations is broader. In the same scene, once seeing vampire Lucy, Seward was able to look past his love for Lucy and understand what was actually happening. The many themes are represented by the characters themselves. A very subtle but important statement was made about the impact of evil on women. To portray this minor theme Stoker utilized Lucy. The graveyard scene summarizes Lucy’s...
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...Kate Finch completed a study on the popular HBO series, True Blood. The research was an analysis of the Vampire Rights Amendment through public relations in pop culture and the theme of post feminism. The research is about the view post feminism view of public relations in pop culture using True Blood as a model. It shows the use of promotion, persuasion and public relations to draw in an audience. “Views interpretations are profoundly influenced by the social discourse in which they are interrelated.” (Brunsdon and Spigel,, 2007, pg. 260) It is important cause it gives the audience a deeper view of the feminism culture in popular culture, while allowing people to people it in the form of a television show that they would be able to spot and...
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...Dracula by Bram Stoker is most definitely one of the most well-known vampire books of all time. Stoker is known for introducing vampires to gothic horror, but 25 years prior, Carmilla was written. Not only does Carmilla predate Dracula, but the novella also contains a romantic interest between the two main characters, which both happen to be female. Even today, in the 21st centaury, same-sex relationships are not seen to be customary. To this day, over 200 years after the book was written, people still argue that the relationship between the two women is not a romantic one. Their romance is made apparent in; Carmilla and Laura’s strong initial and quickly intensifying relationship, Laura’s disgust for her feelings, and Carmilla’s defiance towards her mothers orders to protect Laura, which ultimately lead to Carmilla sacrificing her life. Laura and Carmilla’s relationship begins when they only first meet. The girls met twice, once when Laura was only a young girl, and again when the girls are 16. In both instances the girls have an immediate bond. When Laura was very young, she recalls a, “pretty face looking at [her] from the side of the bed” (Le Fanu 10). Even though a strange person startles Laura in her room she says the girl made her feel “a kind of pleased wonder,” and “delightfully soothed,” (10). This early encounter plays a strong roll in the growth of their relationship. The girls meet each other again, 12 years later, and recall seeing each other’s faces from what...
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...Anthony LeBaron Bakomihalis English IV 12 November 2014 Dracula the told story “The blood is the life” (Stoker 156). Dracula will have many ways of expressing its themes to modern audiences on how it relates to the book and the present. How the superstation can have an effect on the supernatural and the non-believer seeing what is real or not. How the role of religion was a key factor and how it helps them throughout the book. Also the modernity and how it has advance from the 1800s to present day. The book Dracula, by Bram Stoker relates to the modern audience though the theme of superstition, the role of religion and modernity. Superstition What is superstition? Is it more of a belief as in religion or supernatural forces? The define meaning for superstition is excessively credulous belief in and reverence for supernatural beings, but there are different meanings to...
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