Teaching notes · Example 5
Teaching notes: Desire in Dracula
Essay questionIn what ways, and with what effects, does Stoker present desire in the novel?
These notes sit outside the example essay. They are Estate teaching suggestions, not a College Board mark scheme or a prediction of an AP score.
Points for class discussion
- Which meaning of desire does this argument investigate?
- How do the accounts of Lucy and the castle women shape judgement?
- Which later passage complicates the initial reading?
Use the example for your assignment
This is a researched classroom essay, not an official or scored AP model. Use its literary argument and preparation flexibly.
Identify the thesis, the precise evidence that supports it and one complication the argument genuinely addresses. Ask how the conclusion interprets the work rather than just repeating a topic. If you adapt the material to an AP prompt, build a fresh plan around that prompt.
AP scoring and reader guidance · Return to the preparation and essay
Prepared by the Bram Stoker Estate. Page last updated 8 November 2026. Report a correction here.