Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula Portrayed Vampires— the “undead” GMAT Critical Reasoning

Question: Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula portrayed vampires— the “undead” who roam at night to suck the blood of living people—as being able to turn into bats. As a result of the pervasive influence of this novel, many people now assume that a vampire's being able to turn into a bat is an essential part of vampire myths. However, this assumption is false, for vampire myths existed in Europe long before Stoker's book.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

(A) At least one of the European vampire myths that predated Stoker's book did not portray vampires as strictly nocturnal.
(B) Vampire myths in Central and South America, where real vampire bats are found, portray vampires as able to turn into bats.
(C) Vampire myths did not exist outside Europe before the publication of Stoker's Dracula.
(D) At least one of the European vampire myths that predated Stoker's book did not portray vampires as able to turn into bats.
(E) At the time he wrote Dracula, Stoker was familiar with earlier European vampire myths.

Answer: D

Explanation:

Analytical and critical thinking skills are evaluated on the critical reasoning section of the GMAT. To answer clearly, a person must possess strong cognitive abilities.

Given that vampire—the "undead" who prowl at night to drink the blood of the living—was depicted as having the ability to transform into bats in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. Because of the novel's widespread popularity, many people today believe that a vampire's ability to transform into a bat is a crucial component of vampire tales. This notion is incorrect, though, as vampire legends predated Stoker's work by a significant amount in Europe.

The assumption that vampires must be able to transform into bats, according to the author, is due to Bram Stoker's Dracula. In contrast to its predecessors, which ostensibly did not incorporate bats into their mythologies, Stoker's Dracula is described.

Let’s check the given choices,

A: Incorrect

It is an incorrect choice. At least one of the European vampire legends that existed before Stoker's book did not exclusively depict vampires as night creatures. Being nocturnal is a trait that is outside the scope of this essay.

B: Incorrect

It is the wrong choice. Where vampire bats are actually found, in Central and South America, vampire mythology depicts bat-like vampires. Myths from Central and South America are unimportant to this discussion.

C: Incorrect

It is an incorrect choice. Before the release of Stoker's Dracula, vampire myths were unknown outside of Europe. The argument is unaffected by whether or not they were present outside of Europe.

D: Correct

It is the correct answer. At least one of the vampire myths from Europe that existed before Stoker's book did not depict vampires as having the ability to transform into bats. One-of-a-kind credit for the bat idea goes to Stoker. The argument that he is to blame for it loses credibility if it was present in other myths before his.

E: Incorrect

It is an incorrect answer. Stoker was aware of prior European vampire mythology at the time he penned Dracula. His familiarity with the myths has no bearing on the discussion.

“Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula portrayed vampires— the “undead” who” – is a  GMAT Critical question. To answer the question, a candidate can either find a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or have logical flaws in the argument. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. This topic requires candidates to find the argument's strengths and weaknesses or the logical flaw in the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

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