Blog Post 2: Rhetorical Analysis Assignment

The purpose of Dracula’s speech is to tell the story of his race. More specifically, to explain to Harker that the people of his race are powerful and brutal warriors whose bloodlines are related to some of the strongest races from all over the world.

Dracula’s role as a speaker is to act as a witness to the battles fought by his ancestors that lead to the creation of Transylvania. His role is also to act as a radical activist. He argues for the righteousness and good of conquering people by waging war and argues against “dishonorable peace” (Stoker, 1897, p. 44).

Dracula’s audience during his speech is just Jonathan Harker. Harker asked Dracula to tell him about the history of Transylvania. Dracula answers by referring to the race of the people of Transylvania, which are called Szekelys, and the battles they fought. Dracula speaks about the battles that the Szekelys fought that lead them to the creation of Transylvania. Dracula also emphasizes the importance his family played in these battles that brought about the creation of Transylvania. Dracula also answers the question to a fuller extent by talking about the bloodlines of Szekelys.

The genre of Dracula’s speech is historical fiction. Although, he does say “we” several times in his speech which is a characteristic of autobiographical narrative. For the most part, Dracula is speaking in the third person about historical groups of people and historical events. The major principle in historical fiction is that it is a recollection of the past which is just like literacy narratives. Both Literacy narratives and historical fictions involve recollections of the past.

Dracula uses a descriptive style and an exuberant tone when he speaks. Draculas uses this style and tone to create an allusion of himself as if he were present during the battles he speaks of that happened ages ago. This truly convinces Harker and he contemplates whether Dracula was present during the stories he told about the history of Transylvania. Dracula might use this tone to keep Harker engaged with the story. An exuberant tone is better than a monotone.