Chapter 17 Practice Quiz — Dracula
by Bram Stoker — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 17
What telegram does Van Helsing find at the Berkeley Hotel?
A telegram from Mina Harker: "Am coming up by train. Jonathan at Whitby. Important news."
What does Van Helsing call Mina Harker?
"Pearl among women" -- praising her intelligence and resourcefulness.
What documents does Van Helsing give to Dr. Seward before departing?
Typewritten copies of Jonathan Harker's diary from Transylvania and Mina Harker's diary from Whitby.
How does Dr. Seward record his diary?
On a phonograph, using hollow cylinders of metal covered with dark wax. He speaks his entries rather than writing them.
Why is Seward initially reluctant to let Mina hear his phonograph diary?
Because it contains his deeply personal feelings about Lucy's death and his love for her, which he finds too painful and private to share.
What bargain do Mina and Seward strike regarding their diaries?
Mina offers her and Jonathan's typed diaries in exchange for access to Seward's phonograph cylinders, so all information can be shared openly.
What does Mina do with Seward's phonograph diary?
She transcribes it on her typewriter, making three copies using manifold paper, so the spoken record becomes a searchable written document.
What is Mina's key argument for why the group must share all information?
"Working together and with absolute trust, we can surely be stronger than if some of us were in the dark."
What is Jonathan Harker's mission in Whitby?
To trace the fifty boxes of earth shipped from Varna aboard the Demeter and determine where they were delivered in London.
What does the invoice for the boxes describe them as?
"Fifty cases of common earth, to be used for experimental purposes."
Where were all fifty boxes delivered?
To the old chapel at Carfax, the abandoned estate next to Dr. Seward's asylum.
What does one of the carriers say about the house at Carfax?
"That 'ere 'ouse, guv'nor, is the rummiest I ever was in... the place was that neglected that yer might 'ave smelled ole Jerusalem in it."
What dramatic irony does Seward recognize when reading the documents?
That "the very next house might be the Count's hiding place" -- he lived next door to Dracula's lair without knowing it, and Renfield's behavior had been providing clues all along.
What does Seward observe about Renfield's behavior in this chapter?
Renfield is unusually calm and sane, even speaking of getting discharged. Seward is suspicious because all of Renfield's previous outbreaks were linked to the Count's proximity.
What does Renfield always call Dracula?
"Master" -- a term he used in his wild ravings outside the chapel door of the deserted house at Carfax.
Who arrives at the asylum on September 30th?
Lord Godalming (Arthur Holmwood) and Quincey Morris -- completing the assembly of the full group of vampire hunters.
How does Lord Godalming react when left alone with Mina?
He breaks down in hysterical grief over Lucy, beating his palms together and sobbing on Mina's shoulder like a child.
What do Mina and Lord Godalming pledge to each other?
To be like brother and sister "for dear Lucy's sake," and Godalming promises to come to Mina's aid if she ever needs help.
What does Quincey Morris call Mina?
"Little girl" -- the very same words he had used with Lucy, showing his consistent tenderness.
What narrative technique does Stoker use in Chapter 17?
The epistolary form at its most complex: the chapter weaves together Dr. Seward's diary, Mina Harker's journal, and Jonathan Harker's journal, creating a multi-perspective account.
What comment does Mina make that foreshadows later events?
"I suppose one ought to pity anything so hunted as the Count" -- a remark that will resonate as Mina's own fate becomes entangled with Dracula's.
What newspapers does Mina borrow from Dr. Seward and why?
The Westminster Gazette and The Pall Mall Gazette, hoping to find new information about Dracula's activities, just as the Whitby Gazette had helped them understand the Demeter's arrival.
What role does technology play thematically in this chapter?
The typewriter and phonograph represent modern tools that transform private, disorganized knowledge into shared, systematic records -- the heroes' weapons against an ancient evil.