Dracula (Chapters 17–20) – PPT & Worksheet Pack

Support your students as the novel shifts into a tense, investigative phase with this engaging lesson pack covering Chapters 17–20 of Dracula. This resource includes a visually rich PowerPoint and an adaptable worksheet designed to develop analytical thinking, thematic understanding, and close reading skills.

Learners analyse how Mina Murray uses logic, organisation, and rational deduction to confront a supernatural threat, positioning her as one of the novel’s most intellectually powerful characters. They explore the significance of Dracula’s fifty boxes of earth and how these symbols of “home soil” deepen the novel’s themes of invasion, identity, and power. Students also examine the rise of “Invasion Literature” in the Victorian era, uncovering cultural fears of the foreign “other.” Finally, they identify how shifts in narrative tone across journals, letters, and reports change our perspective and shape the unfolding mystery.

Lesson Objectives:

• Analyse Mina’s logical strategies in confronting the supernatural.
• Explore the symbolism of Dracula’s boxes and their narrative importance.
• Understand Victorian ‘Invasion Literature’ and fears of the “other.”
• Identify shifts in narrative tone and how they alter perspective.

This pack is ideal for KS3 English classes studying Gothic literature, Victorian anxieties, or narrative structure. The PPT guides learners through key developments, themes, and symbolic motifs, while the worksheet offers flexible tasks to consolidate understanding without revealing plot specifics.