structure
Bram Stoker wrote his novel in a modified epistolary format. The book is a string of documents such as diaries (of Jonathan and Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, John Seward, and Dr. Van Helsing), letters, telegrams, memorandum, and newspapers. Placed in chronological order, one is able to make connections based on past events to the events of the current document. For example, a gazette dated the 18 of September titled The Escaped Wolf: Perilous Adventure of our Interviewer would describe the meeting of a zookeeper with a strange man who made a kind connection with a wolf that later ran away. However, the reader would recognize that the strange man is the vampire Dracula and that he controlled the wolf's will to help him with his nightly mischief.
A unique twist to using documents (spoiler alert) was that, towards the end of the novel, the diaries and other documents were put together by the characters to create a story line that would explain the mysterious events. The reader then finds out that they are not only reading Bram Stoker's story, but his characters' as well.
A unique twist to using documents (spoiler alert) was that, towards the end of the novel, the diaries and other documents were put together by the characters to create a story line that would explain the mysterious events. The reader then finds out that they are not only reading Bram Stoker's story, but his characters' as well.