What are the essentials of the Vampire story? Apply this to a literary work you have read
(or viewed).
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Thomas C. Foster
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Thomas C. Foster
How to Use This Blog
The purpose of this blog is to assist you in the analysis of your summer reading assignment for AP English. As you are reading and annotating How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, you will be required to post your study guide responses for each chapter for a minimum of 25 posts. Additionally, you should try to avoid repeating your classmate's examples; therefore, those who wait to complete the blog assignment will have a more difficult time trying to find creative and original examples. If you do utilize the same example, you must expand and look at the work in a different perspective. Finally, you will need to respond to at least five other individuals' posts. Aim for 100-200 words per response for each post, depending on the type of question you are asked to answer. Focus on facts and specific details in the novel/movie rather than making judgments or summarizing. Pay attention to the movies/TV shows you are watching and think about novels you have read. These ideas will hopefully help everyone think outside the box and dig deeper. I'm looking for the WOW factor!
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- Introduction: How'd He Do That?
- Chapter 1 - Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It'...
- Chapter 2 - Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
- Chapter 3 - Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
- Chapter 4 - If It's Square, It's a Sonnet
- Chapter 5 - Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
- Chapter 6 - When in Doubt, It's from Shakespeare ...
- Chapter 7 - ... Or the Bible
- Chapter 8 - Hanseldee and Greteldum
- Chapter 9 - It's Greek to Me
- Chapter 10 - It's More Than Just Rain or Snow
- Interlude - Does He Mean That
- Chapter 11 - ... More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: C...
- Chapter 12 - Is That a Symbol?
- Chapter 13 - It's All Political
- Chapter 14 - Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too
- Chapter 15 - Flights of Fancy
- Chapter 16 - It's All About Sex; Chapter 17 - ......
- Chapter 18 - If She Comes Up, It's Baptism
- Chapter 19 - Geography Matters...
- Chapter 20 - ... So Does Season
- Interlude - One Story
- Chapter 21 - Marked for Greatness
- Chapter 22 - He's Blind for a Reason, You Know; C...
- Chapter 25 - Don't Read with Your Eyes
- Chapter 26 - Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
- Chapter 27 - A Test Case
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23 comments:
The essentials to the vampire story are: an attractive or illusive older figure, with corrupt values; a young, virginal, innocent female;The destruction of the female; and the continuing life force of the older male. I was familiar with no vampire stories, so i watched the movie twilight. That is where this comparison comes from. The older, corrupt male would be Edward. He can't die, and so has been around for many years, despite him looking to be a high school student. The innocent and captivated young female would be Bella. Over the course of the movie, Edward and Bella fall in love and Edward explains to Bella all about the vampire life. Once being brought into the vampire life, even though she herself is not a vampire, she can not escape. Throughout the plot of the story, she is hunted by other vampires and is forced to run away, sapping all her energy to escape. She has to lie to her father and friends, disregarding her virtues. Lastly, she has to run away from home, which could be considered stripping away of her youth by forcing her to move out and be independent. Of course in the end, everyone lives happily ever after because the girl that wrote it made it more of a soap opera than a good drama movie, but up until then, it fit the vampire story criteria quite well.
In earlier times sex was a very unapproachable yet extremely interesting topic to many. Since this was the case, vampires were created and sited into stories. Vampires were the mystical, selfish, exploitive people who refused to respect the anatomy of others. The essentials of a vampire story are an attractive or older figure with corrupt values, a young, virginal, innocent girl, the continuing life force of the older male, and the destruction of the female. Vampires were and still are very seductive. They represent the sexual side of stories in a Pg 13 way. Like Scott, the only vampires I could think of are the characters from Twilight. Edward, the main vampire, is extremely attracted to Bella who is human, and he has to be extremely cautious so that he does not suck her blood. This attraction is interesting to people and gives the story a love plot. Edward is the attractive older figure and Bella is the young, innocent, virginal girl. Throughout the whole book Bella is being chased by wicked vampires. Obviously, they are trying to destruct her since that is one of the essentials for a vampire story. It seems as if books/movies are too predictable nowadays.
As you are trying to think of examples for chapter 3, remember what Foster explains: "You don't need fangs and a cape to be a vampire" (19). Some general characteristics for a vampire story can be found on pages 19 and 21. Think outside the box and you will notice "as long as people act toward their fellows in exploitative and selfish ways, the vampire will be with us" (Foster 21).
The essentials of a good vampire story does not always include the man with a black cape and fanged teeth. All a high-quality vampire story needs is an older male figure representing corrupt, outworn values, a young, preferably virginal female,a stripping away of her youth,the continuance of the life force of the old male, and finally the death or destruction of the young woman. We witness these vampire like qualities all the time in books, movies, and even real life situations whether we realize it or not. An example of a movie that displays these simple acts of vampirism is Forrest Gump. One of the main characters, Ginny, is sexually abused as a child by her drunken father. Obviously Ginny’s father has ripped away her youth by stealing her virginity and Ginny doesn’t know what to do or where to turn. Due to her father’s actions Ginny unconsciously fills the void with a drug and sex addiction. Ultimately, Ginny’s path of self destruction leads her to the diagnosis of AIDS, which eventually succeeds in taking her life.
The essentials of the "vampire" story are simple. Scott, Sarah, and Hillary have them written out basically in the same way. All it really comes down to is a powerful, older man taking advantage of a youthful, weaker figure. This is shown in the movie Rain Man. Rain Man is autistic and the inheritance to 3 million dollars from his dead father. Rain Man's brother Charlie then kidnaps him from his treatment and care in a plot to obtain the money. He tries to trick his brother (since he's autistic) into giving him the money. Also along the way, Charlie discovers a hidden talent in his brother and uses that to make himself money in a casino. He abbuses his brother for the well being of himmself. Its a classic case of a vampire feasting on its prey.
The four main essentials that have to exist in a vampire story includes: a young, preferably a virgin woman; an older figure that is attractive yet represents corrupt values; the life force of the older male who never dies; the death or ruined life of the young female. The story that comes to mind when I think about those elements is the story of Eve when she eats the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan represents the evil, older figure that is attracting Eve to the delicious fruit that she knew she wasn't supposed to eat. Eve is the young innocent female who is vulnerable, and she gives in to the temptation to eat the fruit. Satan is sin which is the life force that never dies because once it entered Eve and Adam it was in their heart forever. The destruction of Eve as you have probably already guessed or knew is that Eve came to know and do wrong, and she could never go back to the innocent life she once had. Also, Eve and Adam were demanded to leave their home in the garden, and God punishes them by giving them life struggles to face. Their lives had been destroyed forever from the wicked vampire figure, Satan.
A Vampire story does not mean there will be actual vampires who live off human flesh. It simply means there is a character that acts or is somewhat similar to a vampire. What I mean by this for example is a character who takes advantage of someone or something in order to benefit he/she. An example of this is from the book I used in chapter one, Holes by Louis Sachar. The protagonist, Stanley, is accused for a crime he did not commit. He is then sent to Camp Green Lake where the Warden makes him dig holes to “build character”. Although the kids sent there think this is the reason they are digging all the holes, there’s a hidden meaning behind it. They are actually digging them for the Warden who is looking for Kate Barlow’s buried treasure. She is the vampire in this book because she is making these boys do something that only benefits her and not them.
The characteristics of a vampire include: an older evil figure, generally a male, that violates or takes advantage of a younger and more innocent, generally a virginal woman. The man leaves his mark on her and may scar her for life and possibly even corrupt her. An example of this that does not actually include any vampires is the movie/book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In this book the young Ginny Weasley is taken advantage of by Tom Riddle(who is actually Voldemort) and she unwillingly does his bidding throughout Hogwarts from his book. Ginny is unaware she is doing this and she is heavily taken advantage off. Tom Riddle is the older figure taking advantage of the younger and innocent Ginny Weasley for his own selfish reasons, and as a result Ginny is hurt and she almost dies as a result.
Vampire stories don’t need to revolve around bloodsucking and killing. Cliché vampire stories have an older figure, usually a male, and a younger figure, usually a virginal female. As we all know from the countless movies, books and shows about vampires, the older figure takes advantage of the younger, innocent one. The “vampire” is a selfish character victimizing a weaker, innocent figure. In the play, Othello, Iago is our vampire and Cassio is our victim. Iago is enraged that Othello didn’t choose him for a promotion. Cassio is highly respected by Othello and is friends with Othello’s wife, Desdemona. Iago resents Cassio and uses him to destroy Cassio’s career and Othello. Iago plots countless devious plans to destroy the relationship between Cassio and Othello. In the end, Iago got what he wanted. Iago, a wiser character, used Cassio, an innocent character, to seek revenge on Othello. Iago reaped the benefits of destroying Cassio, maybe not by literal bloodsucking, but definitely by literary bloodsucking.
As it often is with many ideas when it comes to literature, vampires are most commonly found in stories by way of symbolism. While characters may not literally be undead, cape-clad vampires, they can share similar qualities. The basics of the vampire-symbol story are thus: 1) the ‘vampire,’ generally an old[-ish] male; 2) said ‘vampire’ has corrupt, outworn values; 3) the victim, who is usually a younger, virginal female; 4) said victim has her youth, energy, and virtue stripped away; but 5) the ‘vampire’ continues on, undeterred by the destruction of the victim. For an example, I picked Count Olaf from A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket (or Daniel Handler, if you prefer). In A Series of Unfortunate Events, three siblings, the Baudelaire children (who are orphans due to a fire), are constantly pursued by Count Olaf, who at first forces them to work in his filthy house and later tries to get ahold of their parents’ wealth by various distasteful means. He never succeeds in obtaining the fortune (so I guess it might be more accurate to call him a ‘vampire wannabe’), but his actions definitely affect the events in the Baudelaire children’s lives (generally for the worse), thus depriving them of normal, enjoyable lives. All three of the victims (including Klaus, who happens to be male) are negatively affected by Count Olaf, who continues onward as he harasses them. Voila! Vampire story.
A classic vampire story is simple, it consists of: an older figure representing corrupt, outworn values; a young, preferably virginal female; a stripping away of her youth, energy, virtue; a continuance of life force of the old male; the death or destruction of the young woman. An example of a vampire character in a story would be the Emperor in the Star Wars series. He corrupts Anakin Skywalker and turns him to the Dark Side. The older, vampire figure is obviously the Emperor. Anakin (although he is a boy) represents the younger, innocent character. The Emperor uses his powers to alter Anakin's dreams and show his wife dying. This causes Anakin to turn to the Dark Side to seek for help. The stripping of his values would be when Anakin attacks the Jedi Temple and kills many Jedi Padawans. This leads to the Emperor having little opposition to rise into total power. Although Anakin never truly dies, he becomes so twisted from the dark side that he leaves his past behind and becomes Darth Vader.
Vampires are among the most read about creatures in literature and, as many would argue, the best creatures in all of literature. Still, there are a number of things essential in every vampire story. For example, the very essence of a vampire is a creature that steals innocence and purity from others while not caring about hurting or destroying those involved. A true vampire should also stand for evil and the ills we ourselves do not care to possess, while being alluring, mysterious, and dangerous. However, as Foster pointed out, not all vampires have actual capes or fangs and in many cases are not tangible or in a physical form. Though the vampire I’ve chosen as my example lacks some of the physical traits of a vampire, Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello is just as sinister. Throughout the play, Iago seeks his own self gain and plays with the thoughts, emotions, and mistakes of others to get his way. For example, Iago uses Roderigo and Emilia, his wife, as his personal pawns and makes Othello believe that Desdemona, Othello’s wife, and Cassio, one of Othello’s officers, are having an affair. Still, Iago’s “inner vampire” doesn’t fully kick in until the night (when actual and fictitious vampires come out of the shadows) of the final act. That night, while Othello contemplates killing Desdemona (all because of Iago), Iago gets Roderigo to ambush Cassio in the darkness. Roderigo fails and dies but in the protection of the deep night, Iago attacks the young and promising Cassio, thus leaving Cassio “marked” with a wound. Later, when Iago joins the people gathered in Othello’s home after the death of Desdemona, Emilia begins to unravel Iago’s lies and so Iago slays her before her escapes back into the night, leaving as a figure that is alluring and mysterious because of his wickedness. When Othello kills himself, we know Iago has fulfilled his goal and gotten his revenge. Oh, and one other important point. Like Cassio was young and promising before he was attacked and wounded, Desdemona is young, beautiful and arguably a virgin. (Point proven!). In the end, Iago stole the purity, innocence, trust, and other qualities from the characters and story of Othello.
The essentials of a vampire story are a) an older figure with corrupt vaules, b) a young female (typically virginal), c) the destruction of her youth, virtue, or energy, d) a continuance of life force of the older male, e) and the death or destruction of the young female. I think finding “vampire stories” can prove more difficult because the typical image of Dracula comes to mind. But once you look past the teeth, the cape, the coffin, and the bat, it’s a lot easier to find such stories.
I’ve chosen Laura Wiess’s novel Such a Pretty Girl. It’s a story of a young girl, Meredith, who was sexually abused by her father for many years until her mother left him, but later her mother let him return, and her mother refused to believe the stories Meredith told her.
a) Meredith’s father would be the corrupt male in this novel, b) Meredith is the young virgin female, c) her father’s sexual abuse over the years destroyed her virtue, energy, and youth, d) her father left, though still alive, and returned a few years later, still attempting to abuse his daughter, e) Meredith did not die, but she was very much destroyed because her mother didn’t believe her and let her father come back. She lost all hope for help, and was emotionally destroyed. It wasn’t until someone caught her father in the act that she had any hope to escape her nightmare.
There are many essentials to a vampire story. There must be an older character that has corrupt values. There has to be a younger female that is usually a virgin. There has to be a loss of the younger female’s innocence. The older character continues to live due to the taking of the younger female’s innocence. The younger female is usually devastated afterward or possibly she dies. The movie Taken comes to mind when I think of the essentials of a vampire story. It’s not the most obvious example, but I think that it’s there. Bryan Mills’ daughter, Kim, is going to Paris with her friend Amanda. When they arrive in Paris, they get a taxi. A guy approaches them and asks if he can share a cab with them. This guys name is Peter, and he is the vampire character. Peter is older than Kim and Amanda. As far as we know, Kim and Amanda are both virgins. Peter waits for young females at the airport, and then finds out where they are staying. He does this so they can be kidnapped and used as whores in a brothel. Being forced to be prostitutes in a brothel would be their loss of innocence. Peter gets paid to find these young females, so he continues to live and get paid due to the loss of the younger female’s innocence.
Vampire stories usually consist of the blood thirsty corpse that rises in the middle of the night in search of blood. However, the essentials of a vampire legend are an older figure (usually a male) that is corrupted and takes advantage of a younger, virginal character (usually a female). In the novel The Rules of Survival the older corrupt figure is a woman named Nikki. She is the mother of three children Matt (the oldest), Callie (two years younger), and Emmy (the baby). These three children are merciless victims at the hands of their mother. The children are stripped of their childhood and are constantly abused by the one adult in their life. The novel begins as Matt writes a story to his youngest sister, Emmy. As the letter goes, Matt makes it his job to protect his sisters from their mother who "loves" them. The children see a man, named Murdoch; protect a young boy who is being yelled at in a local store. Callie and Matt find his number on the internet and write it down. Nikki finds the number and begins to date Murdoch, the man from the store, but they break up soon after. Nikki blames Murdoch for the break up and wants hires a man to physically hurt him. She lands herself a restraining order and time in jail. After she is released she hurts a friend of Murdoch’s and ends up in jail again. Everything begins to look up for our victims in the story. Matt lives with his biological father and the two girls live with their aunt. When Nikki is released for a second time she kidnaps Emmy and gets her drunk. Matt is contacted by his youngest sister and goes to rescue her. When he runs into Nikki he almost kills her, but is stopped by Murdoch and is told to run and never look back. The story does not end here; the kids continue to receive letters from their ill mother. Many of the letters are normal, but some say “I will kill you”. Murdoch sends Matt a letter telling him of how he too was abused as a child. As the story comes to a close you find out that Matt never gives the letter to Emmy. These three victims have been forever destroyed and changed by the vampire (their own mother) in their lives.
When someone says the word 'vampire,' does an old, skinny figure with long, exposed teeth pop into your head? That is what most people think when they talk about vampires. That is the more common use of a vampire in a story, although a vampire story only needs an older figure with evil intentions and youth (usually a young, virginal woman). The story then usually plays out with the youth being drained of something or killed and the elder figure getting stronger or living longer. In the story Snow White, one wouldn't expect to find a 'vampire', but there is one, without fangs. When the evil queen asks the mirror, "Who is the fairest of them all?" the mirror replies "Snow White is the fairest of them all." Immediately, the queen becomes jealous and hires someone to kill Snow White. The woodsman who she hired can't kill Snow White so he tells her to run and hide. When the queen discovers that Snow White is still alive, she disguises herself as an old woman, and gives Snow White a poisoned apple. When Snow White eats the apple, she faints. The queen used the apple to try to kill Snow White, making herself the most beautiful woman in the land. Unfortunately for her, Snow White is revived and the queen is killed. This 'vampire story' took a turn for the worst for the vampire.
Chris, Rain Man is a great movie and a phenomenal example of a vampire story.
Chris - I never thought of Rain Man as an example of a story until i read your post. After reading it, I really noticed how it was a vampire story. I never thought of Charlie as a vampire and Rain Man as his prey, but it makes sense. Good job on noticing how he uses Rain Man just like a Vampire feasts on its prey.
James – I enjoyed reading your analysis of A Series of Unfortunate Events as a vampire story. Reading the series a few years ago, I knew the stories were dark and grungy but it never crossed my mind that Count Olaf was a “vampire”. Now that I think about it, though, you’re exactly right. It makes perfect sense to me now.
I'm glad you liked the connection. I was panicking a little when I was trying to come up with a vampire story, and then suddenly it hit me! (should have thought of it sooner: count Dracula, count Olaf, it's something about counts :)
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