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To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter Questions And Answers

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1. Start with the victims. What kind of family is the Clutter household? In what way does Capote create sympathy for them? Do you feel they represented the American Dream? The Clutters were a close knit, God fearing Methodist family, and well known in their community. Mr. Herb Clutter was a devoted father and husband. He was well educated and respected in the agriculture industry. He was a self-made man and owner of the River Valley Farm. He was a fair man, but had his rules. As a father, he was a role model who never drank, smoked, or swore. He and his children were very active in the community. For example, they were leaders in the Finney County 4-H Club. They were not without their problems however. Mrs. Clutter suffered from post-partum …show more content…

This literary non-fiction is very different from straight crime reporting. In straight crime reporting, the identities of the victim and motive of the killers are revealed, but their backstory remains hidden from the public. The focus is on the facts, and the experience is personal only to the people directly involved. 7. What does the crime reveal about the town of Holcomb? How does the gossip surrounding the murders reflect underlying truths about the town? The murder of the Clutter family shocked the Holcomb community. This tight knit community began to distrust one another. People couldn’t sleep and the children were scared. At home, the doors were now locked and the lights kept on. Some gossiped about possible motives, and many believed the killer or killers were among them. 8. Does In Cold Blood have a protagonist? Is it Herb Clutter? Dewey? Perry? …show more content…

Capote mentions the older sisters, but since they had lives of their own, away from the River Valley Ranch, their descriptions are unnecessary. 10. What role does "dreaming" play in the novel, both figuratively and literally? Think of Perry's dream of the parrot and of finding gold in Mexico, and of Dewey's nightmares. How reliable is what Capote tells us about these dreams? Dreaming 11. How is montage used in In Cold Blood? In other words, how does the back- and-forth description of events in Holcomb and events surrounding Dick and Perry make the novel more vivid? 12. Is In Cold Blood a creative work? Is it more than journalism? Why or why not? Does the fact that Capote likely altered some of the dialogue and characterization in the book affect its merit as an example of the nonfiction novel? Does it affect your enjoyment of the work? 13. Capote seems to paint Perry in a more sympathetic light than Dick. He seems sensitive and even kind at points; however, by the end we find out that Perry committed all four murders. Were you surprised? Did you sympathize with Dick more than Perry? 14. How does Capote humanize the killers? 15. Did the book make you think differently about violent crime? About the death penalty? Why or why

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