Dracula 1

Study Guide Questions for Ch. 1 "Jonathan Harker's Journal"

If you are looking for the beginning of the study of Bram Stoker’s Dracula then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of available book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Wilderness vs. Civilization, Fear, Duty, Religion 

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What “impression” did Jonathan Harker have as he crossed the Danube river in Buda-Pesth? 

2. Which language did Jonathan Harker find useful to help him communicate as he moved through eastern Europe?

3. What did Jonathan Harker observe about the role of “superstition” in the region of the Carpathians?

4. How did the landlord of the Golden Krone Hotel (and his wife) behave when Jonathan Harker inquired into his transportation to Castle Dracula?

5. What gift did the landlord’s wife press upon Jonathan?

6. What words did Jonathan overhear the peasants speaking about as he got into the coach which “were not cheering” to him?

7. According to the coach driver, why was no one allowed to get out of the coach to walk?

8. What did Jonathan observe about the atmosphere on differing sides of the mountain range?

9. How early did the coach arrive at the meeting place where Jonathan was supposed to meet Dracula’s coach?

10. What did Jonathan observe about the course the second coach seemed to be taking after he transferred to it?

11. What terrors did Jonathan face during his time in the second coach?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. What do you think is the first indication in the story that something bad might be in store for Jonathan Harker?

2. Why would the landlord suddenly pretend not to understand the German Jonathan was speaking to him?

3. Given the interaction between Jonathan and the landlord’s wife, what kind of man does Jonathan seem to be?

4. Why are the people making the sign of the cross upon themselves and pointing two fingers at Jonathan?

5. Why did Jonathan’s fellow passengers offer him a varied assortment of gifts?

6. Why did the coach driver strain the horses so hard throughout the trip?

7. What were some unsettling traits about the coachman sent by Count Dracula?

8. Why might Dracula’s coachment have been driving in circles for a time?

9. What are we supposed to make of the blue flames that appeared near the coach?

10. What did Jonathan mean by saying, “It is only when a man feels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import?”

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Jonathan Harker noted that within the horseshoe of the  Carpathian mountains that every kind of superstition was present. Offer a definition for the term “superstition.” What is an example of a common superstition in our own day and culture? How do you think superstitions form? Would you argue that believing superstitions is dangerous? Why or why not?

2. What is fear? Why do people feel fear? Is fear a good thing or a bad thing? Explain your answer thoughtfully.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Genesis 2:15-17 in comparison to Genesis 3. What differences do you notice between what God told Adam and what Adam told the serpent about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Would you say the difference in Eve’s words amount to a superstition? How might the difference of her belief (contrary to what God actually said) about the tree have affected her actions and the outcome? What should we learn from this?

2. Read 1 Samuel 4. How is superstition seen in this passage of Scripture and what is the result of the people placing their confidence in that superstition?