Expository Essay: Contrasting Vampires in Folklore and Fiction

This expository essay provides a detailed comparison and contrast of vampires as portrayed in folklore and modern fiction, specifically referencing Bram Stoker's Dracula and the Twilight saga. The essay begins by defining the characteristics of vampires in general and then breaks down the key differences between the two representations. The essay covers the physical attributes, powers, methods of killing, and overall characterization of vampires in both folk tales and contemporary fiction. It highlights how vampires in folklore are often depicted as evil creatures with animalistic tendencies, while modern fiction often presents them with more complex personalities. The essay also examines the evolution of vampire mythology, from their origins in folk tales to their romanticized portrayals in modern literature and film. The essay references several sources to support its arguments, including scholarly articles and books on vampire lore and literature.

Running Head: Expository Essay 0
Expository Essay
June 30
2019

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Expository Essay
The genre of essay which defines about the investigation of an idea, evaluation of
evidence; it helps to conclude a result on the topic for readers. These essays can be completed by
comparison and contrast, definition or the analysis. These essays are basically divided into five
major parts which are defined below:
Descriptive Essay: The essay which explains about any place, experience or about any
condition.
Process essay: The essay which is used to define any process of producing or acting something
Comparison Essay: The essay which is used to compare the characteristics of two different
things
Cause Essay: The type of essay which is used to identify the reason behind any activity or any
work.
Problem/Solution essay: When an essay is explaining about any problem or solution about any
concern (Morin, 2019).
Contrast of Two Vampires
Vampire are the creatures with fangs, consume the blood of humans, these are the
folklore or mythical creatures dominantly in distinct cultures of Europe from years ago, most of
the people still believe in them. These are the best known monsters who always shown as
classical in their living. Generally vampire hunts at night because according to folk tales sunlight
weakens their power, in some tales the belief was that they might transform into bat or wolf,
their image cannot be seen in the mirror (Aparici, García-Marín, & Díaz-Delgado, 2019). It is
defined that they have many super power like hypnotic, sensual effect on their prey. In history
one of the most known vampire name after Dracula he was known as Vlad the Impaler he ruled

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Romania from 1456-1462. He was considered as cruel ruler who fought with huge violence in
Ottoman Empire. His name was compared with the Vlad Dracula because he killed his enemies
with the impaling them on a wooden stake (Chang & Lee 2019). According to stories written by
the stoker’s imagination Dracula he created in his stories he was born in Transylvania who
sucked blood of his victim and impale stake through heart of Victim. Vampire becomes popular
by the beginning of 20th Century as creature of fantasy, between 1960-70’s rumors of vampire
starts to uproar England and it was believed that they were seen at High gate Cemetery in
London. Vampire becomes a nationwide phenomenon and to compare them two characters are
taken. Bram Stroker’s Dracula it was a novel which was written in 1897 (Costello, 2019). In the
modern concepts about Vampire they are seen inhumanly attractive. The contrast between the
Vampire of Folk tales and Novel Twilight Saga is totally different so considering to their
physical attributes the vampire of folk tales are not shown in any action they always seen in
coffins .
According to folk tales their mouth was covered with the blood they have human bodies
and pointed canines with growing nail, skin and nails (Frith, 2019) They move in very fast speed
that they cannot be seen by any human being. In the novel Twilight saga there body shines inn
sunlight like a diamond due to which they can be identified as Vampire. While according to
Carpe Jugulum their body get burn and transformed into ashes if get contact in sunlight.
Different concepts were given that how they were made, in folk tales it was assumed that they
were suffering from some fatal disease which cannot be defined or examined, it was also
explained that the person who perform suicide becomes vampire. In the fiction novel it was
explained that either the person will born as a Vampire or will be converted in vampire when
bitten by other vampire (Halberstam, 1993). According to the novel Twilight when a male

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Vampire and female human will conceive a child will give birth to a creature having ability of
human and Vampire both because a body of female Vampire is not able to conceive a child. In
the novel it was written that every vampire possess a special ability in twilight saga the character
Edward have ability to understand thinking of other person, Alice was the vampire who can see
future, at the other case when Aro touch the hand of any person he come to know all thoughts,
while there were no such abilities were defined in folktales about Vampires. In folk stories mode
of killing by vampires was also different according to story of Plogowitz it was 24 hours of
illness and after by the choking in dream the person will be lead to death but in the fiction novels
the mode of killing was through biting on neck and by sucking blood. Other point of contrasting
about killing the vampire in folktales it was declared that their corpse should be beheaded and
burn down into ashes.
In the fiction tales or novel when they were stake into their heart through wooden pieces
or their head needs to be cut down and after burning them into ashes Vampires can be killed. In
some of the fiction stories it was written that a vampire cannot be killed truly they can be reborn
(Senf, 1982). One of the major area of their contrast is that in fiction tales they have more than
one dimension in looking, they have their own specific personality. While in the folk tales they
are evil creature who are black in conception and needed to be eliminated. The thing which is
point to notice is that any person who told about vampire in folktales never seen a vampire
moving they always mentioned about their corpses or coffins which was heard from some other
person. In fiction it is totally different according to those stories they were the real character
which were plotted in the story. In folk tales it was shown that they always feeds human blood
and survive on it, but in fiction stories explains that they can survive on animal blood as well.
According to the mythology they were the evil creatures animalistic in nature and their aura was

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surrounded by the horror, while in fiction including their thrilling part their positive aura is also
explained.

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References:
Aparici, R., García-Marín, D., & Díaz-Delgado, N. (2019). Vampires on the Web. The
explotation of youth culture. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, (74), 197-213.
Chang, P., & Lee, M. (2019). Exploring textual and interpersonal Themes in the expository
essays of college students of different linguistic backgrounds. English for Specific
Purposes, 54, 75-90.
Costello, D. (2019). Female Vampires as Embodied Critiques of Heteronormativity, Blood-
Mixing, and Patriarchy. Embodied Difference: Divergent Bodies in Public Discourse, 99.
Frith, P. (2019). The curse of the thing is Technicolor blood: why need vampires be messier
feeders than anyone else?’: The BBFC and Hammer’s Colour Films, 1957–
1962. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 39(2), 233-250.
Halberstam, J. (1993). Technologies of Monstrosity: Bram Stoker's" Dracula". Victorian
Studies, 36(3), 333-352.
Morin, T. (2019). Growing Up with Vampires: Essays on the Undead in Children's Media ed. by
Simon Bacon and Katarzyna Bronk. Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 44(1),
128-130.
Senf, C. A. (1982). " Dracula": Stoker's Response to the New Woman. Victorian Studies, 26(1),
33-49.
Tracy, R. (1990). Loving You All Ways: Vamps, Vampires, Necrophiles and Necrofilles in
Nineteenth-Century Fiction. In Sex and death in Victorian literature (pp. 32-59).
Palgrave Macmillan, London.